Dear David, What an excellent manual ! So great to see a practical, balanced report like this.
regards
Graham

Thanks for the feedback. I'll look forward to the Tacloban city data, when it is available.

F H Mughal

There are lots of case studies in the Philippines with real data for septage program business models, full cost recovery and tariff setting, but none yet for full scale lime stabilization programs. At least one program (Tacloban City) will be starting up this year but real data will not be available for some time.

Thanks for the cost analysis. Any case studies?

F H Mughal

Thanks for your comment. The costing for a small plant processing about 20 cubic meters per day (roughly 5,000 cubic meters per year) is estimated to be about $10 per cubic meter for the treatment(Philippines prices) considering:

- Cost of the plant (depreciated over 5 years);
- Labor to operate the plant;
- The cost of the lime; and
- Administration.

After year 5 when the plant is paid off, the cost for the treatment per cubic meter drops to about $6.80.

For this costing example, the target community has 10,500 homes and the desludging frequency is every 5 years. The tariff comes out to just under $1 per family per month, all in, including collection and treatment.

The cost estimates are still a bit hypothetical in the Philippines as up until now systems utilizing the lime stabilization technology have been subsidized by donors and the collection and treatment has been erratic. The larger scale system under construction in Tacloban City will provide some better numbers, and lots of lessons learned to be sure, so please stay posted for those.

Dear David,

This is a interesting and useful publication, written in a simple, easy-to-understand format.

What would be the cost of treatment? Are there any case studies (countries where lime treatment is used)?

Regards,
F H Mughal

Lime stabilization is a relatively low cost and effective method of treating septage. It has been used for many years in the United States but is now just catching on for municipal programs in the Philippines. In 2008, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) introduced the technology in pilot programs, but it wasn’t until typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) struck the central Philippines two years ago when the technology was used at scale. Disaster relief workers from Oxfam and other NGOs discovered that lime stabilization facilities were easy to set up, and required low capital outlays and a small land footprint. Cities, such as Tacloban City in the province of Leyte, eager to set up low cost and sustainable septage management programs are now starting to realize these benefits through the implementation of full scale systems.

USAID has captured these lessons learned and combined them with international best practices in a new manual entitled, Implementer’s Guide to Lime Stabilization for Septage Management in the Philippines. This is an output of USAID’s Be Secure Project. While some of the text is specific to permitting requirements in the Philippines, readers will find the information useful elsewhere. The manual is attached here for your use. I hope you find it useful and would be interested in hearing your comments.