FSTP at Faridpur, Bangladesh

Location: Faridpur (23°37'20.3"N 89°50'44.1"E)
Scale: City level (Population ~0.15 million
Implementing Organisation: Practical Action, Bangladesh
Area: 1.5 Acres

Designed Capacity: 42 cum/day
Operational since: 2016
Capital Cost: 31,049,883 BDT
23,808,165 INR
O&M: N/A

“Access to Toilet for All” is a great success for Faridpur, Bangladesh, though safe management of human excreta is still under prioritisation for the Faridpur government. Pits account to 68% and septic tanks account to 32%. The plant was built to tackle prevailing FS mis-management issue in Faridpur city. The compost developed after treatment is sold to the farmers.

Raw faecal sludge (FS) collected from source is 24 cum/day of which 6 cum/day is discharged into planted drying bed (PDB) and 18 cum/day is discharged into unplanted drying bed (UPDB). Each day, only a single bed of PDB and UPDB is filled with FS. The UPDB is filled with its full carrying capacity. Post solid-liquid separation at UPDB, semi solid sludge from it is treated in a partial aerobic unplanted setup to treat at or more than 54 degrees for 2 weeks. While the leachate is treated in a cesspool by algae and bacteria growth in batches.

Post solid-liquid separation at PDB, semi solid sludge from the PDB is treated in an aerobic planted setup to treat by fermentation and evapotranspiration for a retention time of 2 years. Once the sludge accumulates to a height of around 0.9 m in the PDB (in 2-3 years), it is removed and can be used as an organic soil conditioner. While the leachate is treated in a cesspool by algae and bacteria growth in batches

Each day, one bed of the PDB is filled with sludge and allowed to dry but during the site visit it was found to be PDB is filled once in a week. The semi solid sludge remaining post treatment from PDB and UPDB is used to prepare compost. The treated leachate from the cesspool is disinfected and stored at a maturation pond. Retention time at maturation pond is 12 days and finally reused in the agriculture fields in the vicinity

Abdullah-Al-Mamun
Practical Action, Bangladesh
01717601301
Abdullah.AlMamun@practicalaction.org.bd