Thank you, Rohini, for sharing about this webinar. Given that the world is not on track to meet the SDGs and OSS+FSM is probably the fastest way to extend safely managed services, the discussion will be relevant for many developing country contexts. 
I look forward to the webinar and continuing the discussion here.

Regards
paresh

Background: This year – 2024 – marks a decade of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM),the Government of India’s flagship programme to improve sanitation. While Phase I focused on the elimination of open defecation through construction of house-hold and community toilets, SBM 2.0, launched in 2021, seeks a more complete approach to liquid waste management.  It stresses that “all faecal sludge and waste(used) water aresafely contained, transported, processed and disposed of, so that no untreatedfaecal sludge or used water pollutes the ground or water bodies”.

In the intervening period, the government had also come out with the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management(FSSM) policy (available here ) in 2017. This policy acknowledged the large-scale dependence on onsite sanitation systems (OSS) such as septic tanks and soak pits, as well as lack of treatment options available for faecal sludge (FS) generated in such systems.  As a result, various models for streamlining components of FSM – collection, transport and treatment – have been demonstrated in the last decade.

Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) have emerged as a solution for safe disposal and treatment of faecal sludge and septage which otherwise ends up in open drains and water bodies. As per the SBM-G dashboard , there are over 2,600 such plants in various stages of design and implementation in the country. While there have some successful demonstrations of FSTPs, they still face a lot of challenges. A primary challenge is the over- or under-loading of plants, which could be a result of design or other O&M issues either at the plant or from lack of integration with other components of FSM. Other issues include shortage of land, insufficient infrastructure, lack of desludging trucks, trained personnel, and safety equipment, failure in operation and maintenance activities of the treatment plant, all of which compound the problem.

The design and other technical challenges faced by FSTPs necessitates a discussion on innovations and improvements that have happened recently as well as those further required. With this objective, a webinar on “2nd July 2024” at 3PM- 4.30 PM is being jointly organised by Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination Society (CDD India), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Ecosan Services Foundation (ESF).

Register Here:  forms.gle/VX2gVrF6hFqzG6uE7