Sanitation
Most towns in the Global South face issues with sanitation systems that include lack of access, poor design efficiency. Centralised and sewered network infrastructure demand high capital, operation and energy costs and hence excludes small towns and marginal settlements. The project explores the possibility of scaling up technology alternatives at a town level through participatory planning, capacity building and working with local governments. Sanitation issues get amplified in regions with high water tables like the coastal region of Alleppey particularly during floods. Our focus is on developing decentralized and integrated sanitation solutions for such regions at the local level, involving multiple stakeholders in a participatory manner, to ensure effective outcomes.
Interventions
Town Level Water and Sanitation Assessment
Solid and Liquid Waste Management Plan
Contextualizing Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
Community level Interventions
Town Level Water and Sanitation Assessment
Solid and Liquid Waste Management Plan
Contextualizing Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
Community level Interventions
Town Level Water and Sanitation Assessment
A Winter School was organized in Alleppey in 2017, the output of which was a methodology for integrated solid and liquid waste plan by 18 students of IIT Bombay assisted by local students. This was scaled up to the entire canal systems of the town through a summer school involving 300 students from all over India. Assessment of major polluters and pollutants in Alappuzha, including management of organic and inorganic waste, and the waste chain cycle was studied.
Solid and Liquid Waste Management Plan
To have a proper waste management system in place, it was invariably important to understand the chain starting off with the individual user or household. Analysis of the current practices and infrastructure aided in developing a contextual understanding of current solid and liquid waste management practices. A winter school in December 2018 developed a comprehensive integrated solid and liquid waste management plan.
Contextualizing Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
The aim was to identify the issues with the current Shit Flow Diagram preparation process and the need to contextualize the output of the tool to use it for planning city-wide FSM services. Based on the status of the FSM service chain in Alleppey, a contextual Shit Flow Diagram was developed using the SFD-pi method, from which various recommendations for planning city wide FSM service were provided.
Community level Interventions
A key objective was mitigating canal pollution and bringing better sanitation practices by adopting decentralised systems. A detailed survey of canal profiles and sampling water and wastewater were carried out. Several other activities such as sub-canal cleaning and renovation, remedy for liquid and solid waste hotspots, household-level black and greywater treatment, canal beautification and formation of canal committees for operation and maintenance, were also conducted. Finally, a DEWATS system for treating the wastewater at a community level was established with the help of CDD Bangalore and Inspiration, Kochi.
Publications
Newspaper article
- June 28, 2022