AMRUT Capsule III: Training Programme on Integrated Wastewater and Faecal Sludge Management for Municipal Functionaries of Uttar Pradesh

Venue: Centre for Science and Environment, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062
Date: February 26–28, 2020

Water team, CSE organized "AMRUT-Capsule 3: Training Programme on Integrated Wastewater and Faecal Sludge Management” for Municipal Functionaries of Uttar Pradesh.The three day training was part of the series of trainings organized under AMRUT programme by CSE for a total of 17 officials including engineers, urban planners, urban infrastructure specialists from 12 different urban local bodies.

The aim of the training was to provide in-depth knowledge to municipal functionaries about Shit Flow Diagram (SFD) and Faecal Sludge & Septage Management (FSSM) with the help of hands-on exercises and interactive sessions by experts.

On first day, the training kick started with an introductory session by Dr. Mahreen Matto who welcomed the participants and gave an overview aboutCSE’s work at national and global platform. In continuation, Mr. Bhitush Luthraintroduced participants to SFD relating to India’s current sanitation situations.  Mr. Luthra also delivered sessions which helped participants in reading and making of SFD. Later, participants were divided in 4 groups and exposed to a hands-on exercise to prepare an SFD for a particular town.

The second day of the training started with a reflection session to recapitulate the participant’s knowledge on previous day learnings which was followed by an introductory session on faecal sludge & septage management (FSSM) including its journey in UP by Dr. Mahreen Matto and Mr. Rahul Mankotia. The session was well designed to give a complete understanding of sanitation value chain and its management at various scales.In continuation to the previous session, Ms. Sumita Singhal and Mr. Jyoti Parsad explained different onsite sanitation systems and design steps of septic tank, respectively.

Post lunch Mr. Jyoti Parsad took the session on town level FSSM planningaiming towards an improved sanitation situation. Later, another component of sanitation value chain i.e. emptying & transportation of faecal sludge was explained by Ms. Sumita Singhal. The day was ended up with an exciting session on various treatment technologies to treat faecal sludge/septage.

The first half of the third day of the training programme was dedicated to field visit; one was Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) Dakshinpuri (having a capacity of 14MGD) where faecal sludge from the nearby areas is collected and conveyed with the sewage to be treated at the sewerage system plant (STP).The second visit wasto STP located at Okhla where sewage was being treated with the help of a hybrid technology based on Activated Sludge Process (ASP). The capacity of the STP is 30 MGD with a total area of 20Ha.

Post lunch, Mr. Jyoti Parsad explained the designing of planted drying beds with the help of a case example. Further, participants were given an insight on operation, maintenance and monitoring of faecal sludge treatment plant by considering various live examples of successfully running FSTPs across India.

At the end of day, Dr. Suresh Rohillamoderated the feedback session, where participants expressed their perception about the quality and key learnings from the training programme.