Pump it up: making single-pit emptying safer in rural Bangladesh

Safe emptying and disposal of fecal sludge from pit latrines in rural areas has become a priority for the Government of Bangladesh. In this paper, we calculate the volume and characterize the hazards of managing sludge to identify technologies for safely emptying rural single pits. In Bhaluka subdis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of water, sanitation, and hygiene for development sanitation, and hygiene for development, 2016-09, Vol.6 (3), p.456-464
Main Authors: Balasubramanya, Soumya, Evans, Barbara, Ahmed, Rizwan, Habib, Ahasan, Asad, N. S. M., Vuong, Luan, Rahman, Mominur, Hasan, Mahmudul, Dey, Digbijoy, Camargo-Valero, Miller
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drinking water
Eggs
Emptying
Feces
Groundwater
Hazard identification
Households
Latrines
Liquid sludge
Microorganisms
Moisture content
Pits
Policies
Protective equipment
Pumps
Roads
Rural areas
Rural roads
Salinity
Sanitation
Sludge
Sludge disposal
Water shortages
Water supply
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Summary:Safe emptying and disposal of fecal sludge from pit latrines in rural areas has become a priority for the Government of Bangladesh. In this paper, we calculate the volume and characterize the hazards of managing sludge to identify technologies for safely emptying rural single pits. In Bhaluka subdistrict, an estimated 15,000 m3 of sludge is produced annually. Physical, chemical, and microbial analysis of samples of sludge taken from pit latrines indicate that the sludge has a high moisture content of around 90%, a C:N ration of 10:1, and a helminth presence of 41 eggs/g. In a field test of alternative emptying technologies, simple pumps such as the gulper emerged as feasible for use in rural areas, due to the liquid nature of the sludge, narrow roads, and limited incomes of rural households. The results suggest that current practices of emptying liquid sludge manually without any protective equipment poses risks to those who handle sludge, and the process needs to be semi-mechanized with immediate effect. These results are being used by the Bangladesh government to design policy for sludge management. In the near future, an organized service that safely empties single pits and transports sludge for treatment needs to be urgently designed.
ISSN:2043-9083
2408-9362
DOI:10.2166/washdev.2016.049