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Download fileSimplified sewerage: an appropriate option for rapid coverage in peri-urban areas of India
conference contribution
posted on 12.02.2018, 15:08 authored by Asit NemaWith increasing population pressure in the cities and towns across India, clearing the backlog, and
improving and maintaining sanitation service levels has become increasingly challenging. Water borne
human excreta disposal through conventional sewerage system is expensive and increasingly infeasible
for congested, small plot habitations which experience low or declining service levels of water supply.
Although this represents the higher order technology option, it is increasingly being questioned because
of its water intensive feature. In areas where onsite
sanitation is technically not feasible and where
conventional sewerage is financially unaffordable, simplified sewerage as an intermediate technology
solution offers an appropriate option. Successful experience of over 20 years in Latin American
countries has positioned this technology as an important and only feasible option for periurban
areas
and low income settlements. A small municipality of Ramagundam (Andhra Pradesh, India) with a
population of around 250,000 has successfully adopted this technology and has been able to provide full
sanitation in 13 lowand
middleincome
communities covering over 6600 households. Lessons from this
success story could be drawn for wider application and rapid coverage under the ongoing infrastructure
strengthening programs. There is a need to evolve appropriate policy and technical guidelines such that
the sanitary engineering community can confidently adopt this unconventional technology and extend
the benefits of improved sanitary conditions and better public health to a larger population.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Research Unit
- Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)