Advanced Training Programme on Decentralized Wastewater, Faecal Sludge and Septage Management

Date: March 9-12, 2021
Venue: Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute (AAETI), Nimli (Rajasthan)
Language: English

CSE - School of Water and Waste (SWW) has organized various online trainings to sensitize key actors, regulators and others involved in promoting sustainable and affordable sanitation. In a step forward, SWW organized 4 days Advanced Training Programme on ‘Decentralized Wastewater, Faecal Sludge and Septage Management’ from March 9-12 for selected cohort of alumni of previous trainings and selected individuals with prior knowledge of the subject. This training focused on providing practical and hands-on experience to design and implement decentralized wastewater, faecal sludge and septage management including field exposure visit to successfully running Faecal Sludge Treatment and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment (DWWT) projects giving an opportunity for participants to interact with real implementers as well as beneficiaries.

The training was held at its state-of-art residential facility, Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute (AAETI), Neemli, Rajasthan.

The learning objectives of the training included mapping of excreta flow using Shit Flow Diagram (SFD), planning and designing for faecal sludge / septage management and decentralized wastewater treatment including local reuse, financial aspects of  FSSM (Faecal Sludge and Septage Management) & DWWTs – different business model including operation and maintenance, cost recovery and life cycle costs and field visit of successfully running decentralized wastewater and faecal sludge treatment plants and opportunity to learn from implementers and interact with real beneficiaries.

The training style was based on the ‘Harvard Case Method’ with interactive sessions including practical work done by trainers/trainees. The training was focused on experiential learning – including individual/group interaction, practical group exercises, and interaction with experts, discussions, field visit and documentary films to highlight the best management practices in this sector. The participants also got an opportunity to learn about different approaches, technologies and business models with focus on planning and designing FSSM and decentralized wastewater treatment systems through hands on exercise called ‘Do It Yourself’- group exercise.

Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been rolled out by admin dept. of CSE to maintain safety measures during the residential training at AAETI.

A total of 18 participants from diverse background attended the training programme, which comprised of the faculties and students of Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology Nanded, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Municipal functionaries of various states, Bihar State Ganga River Conservation Programme Management Society and officials from Delhi Jal Board etc.

The participants assembled in CSE head office a day prior to the training and after preliminary introduction, a CSE campus tour was conducted. Participants were elated to see the working example and on-ground implementation of DWWTs in urban setting. Later in the evening participants and faculty headed to the AAETI training centre. 

The day 1 of the training started with a campus tour, showcasing the various Green Infrastructure features at AAETI. It was followed by a session on the context setting by our Senior Director Dr Suresh Rohilla. Technical sessions started with a detailed presentation on Onsite sanitation Systems by Mr Jyoti Parsad, Senior Research Associate. Various tools and approaches were discussed through a presentation by Dr Sumita Singhal Programme Manager in the next session which highlighted the types and need of integration of tools in FSM planning. Mr Harsh Yadava, Research Associate conducted a session on Shit Flow Diagram and its applicability in FSM planning which was followed up by hands on exercise on preparation of Shit Flow Diagram. FSM planning was elaborated in detail by Mr Jyoti Parsad through a presentation followed up by an exercise on septage quantification by various methods.

Day 2 covered the aspects on various technological options for FSM. Dr Sumita Singhal. Mr Dorai Narayana, International Consultant FSM briefly described about the principle of co-treatment and various challenges. This session was followed by a hands on exercise covering the computations involved for co-treatment. This session was followed by an expert session by Mr Krishna Rao, WASHi Advaisor, describing the various business models of FSM in urban setting. At the end of the day, a ‘do it yourself’ exercise was conducted on designing of Planted Drying Beds and Sludge Drying Beds. To keep the energy levels high and to have an informal interaction with the participants a cultural night was also organized on the same day.

The day 3 mainly focused on planning and designing of DWWTs. It comprised of FSM laboratory visit and an expert session by Chandrashekhar, CEO Vision Earthcare on Soil Biotechnology. Later a session on designing of DWWT was conducted by Mr Jyoti Parsad. A Do it yourself exercise related with the designing and planning of DWWTs was also conducted and the participants made their final presentations on the conceptual DWWTs Plan. 

The final day of the training started with the winding up on the group exercise, followed by an expert lecture by Mr Sumon Saha from WaterAid Bangladesh describing about the Sakhipur Co-composting plant case study and it was followed by a session on operation and maintenance of DWWTs. The day was concluded with a site visit at Sewage pumping station Dakshinpuri and detailed feedback session moderated by Dr Rohilla.

The salient features of this training was that every session was followed up by discussion, hands on exercises and informal discussions pertaining to the subject after training hours which not only provided the conceptual clarity but also helped to understand the participant's take for on ground implementation. 

Participants showed a very encouraging and positive feedback on the training content, methodology and arrangements regarding COVID-19 precautions.