see also Clean team transfer stations - www.cleanteamtoilets.com/

and SANERGY

again these are not my photos - I am posting for the sake of stimulating discussion and I hope those who are involved with the Clean Team project will see these postings and give us more up-to-date and reliable information.

Here's another example - from a paper by Niall Boot published in Waterlines in 2008

The use of transfer stations for faecal sludge management in Accra, Ghana
NIALL L.D. BOOT

You can download the paper from :

www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Boot-2008-Use.pdf

I understand that Goal has established some transfer stations in Freetown - we will need to ask Niall or a colleague of his to provide us with more information.

Antoinette asks us to share your pictures of septage transfer stations.... this is not my photo .. it comes from a SANDEC report... (quite old now) but is relevant to the topic of discussion. Hopefully, someone who is familiar with this system can provide more information. Jonathan

The photo is from Haiphong where a mini-vacuum tug is used for desludging in narrow lanes and due to the small quantity of septage, it discharges into an intermediate-storage-tank placed in the nearest accessible road.

The system is operated by the Hai Phong Urban Environment Co., Ltd (Hai Phong Urenco) which is a public utility enterprise, is responsible for septage collection.

Collection is carried out with vacuum tankers and small vacuum tugs for areas difficult to access, used together with intermediate-storage-tanks mounted on a hook-lift truck. The mini-vacuum-tugs were developed by the company in collaboration with a local manufacturer. They have a capacity of 350 L and cost around $ 4,000 (about 20 years ago).

I think one of the main advantages could be that local entrepreneurs could offer emptying services at a relatively low price using manual sludge pumps and rikshas/tricycles for short distance transport of full barrels etc.

In addition one could have an easy to implement indirect subsidy by covering the motorized emptying of the transfer-station and transport to the treatment facility via funds from the local government.

What I was wondering though is if there are also designs that act as settling tanks with decentralized effluent treatment via a constructed wetland. Mainly because manual emptiers often have to add quite a bit of water to brake up the bottom of the sludge and make that pump-able (more so for pit latrines, but sometimes also for septic tanks) and that surplus water should be removed again before longer distance transport to a treatment facility. Such a facility (basically a large septic tank with a CW) could also act as a DEWATS for local government buildings etc. increasing the incentive to keep it operational.

Last but not least, an interesting innovation would be some sort of fill level measurement device that automatically alerts the emptying service via SMS once a transfer station is full or has other issues.

Discussion “Septage Transfer Stations”
Topic 1: Different options for Septage Transfer Stations

Dear colleagues,

Today is the first day of the discussion about “Septage Transfer Stations” that will be running till mid-July. The first topic will make an inventory of existing options for septage transfer stations, broadening our collective understanding of what this looks like.

As the concept of transfer stations for septage is new to a lot of people, we think that it will be helpful to start by looking at different examples. We also want to ask you to add examples from your practice, and when possible, share pictures. In second and third topic we will go deeper into management aspects and other considerations for choosing between different options.

The first topic will run from today, 24th of June till next Tuesday 30th of June. As a guidance, we have the following 2 questions:
1. What do you feel could be advantages and disadvantages of septage transfer stations in general?
2. What is your experience with different septage transfer station options?

Below a short introduction will be given to each of these 2 questions.

Looking forward to your ideas and contributions,

Ant.

Note that in the discussion we may be referring to septage being both the liquid and solid content of pits and septic tanks, faecal sludge being the solid contents mainly. However, we think that everybody should feel free to use terminology they are comfortable with.


Ad 1. What do you feel could be advantages and disadvantages of septage transfer stations in general?
As the majority of cities and towns in the developing world rely on on-site sanitation facilities, finding sustainable solutions for safe emptying and disposal of these facilities is pre-requisite for achieving environmental health outcomes. In many cities and towns, informal solutions for emptying of pits and septic tanks do already exist, but often sludge is disposed unsafely (dumped in rivers, drains, waste land). Part of the reason is the disconnect between emptying and transport needs. For emptying in densely populated areas, small emptying devices used (vacutugs, manually operated devices) are needed. However, these same devices are unsuitable for transporting sludge over a larger distance to a treatment plant.

Possible advantages of septage transfer stations could be:
1) Shorten the time and reduce costs for small scale local emptiers to transport septage/sludge, thereby reduce incentives for illegal dumping
2) Allows small scale local emptiers to empty more pits/tanks in one day, making the overall service more affordable
3) Make transport to a treatment plant or final disposal site more efficient, due to the use of larger vehicles
4) May reduce accidents and spillage by avoiding small septage transporting vehicles on larger roads
5) May encourage more community-level emptying solutions and income generation

Possible disadvantages could be:
1) Could lead to bad odours, vermin and inconvenience if not properly maintained
2) Will require a more complex institutional set-up to manage the relation between emptiers, transport and treatment
3) Fixed stations require expert design, location and construction supervision
4) Discharge in sewer discharge stations may cause blockages and disrupt sewer flow
We would like to hear your opinion and possibly experience regarding any of the above advantages and disadvantages.

Ad 2. What is your experience with different Septage Transfer Station options?
Below we are sharing 6 different types of septage transfer stations with some key features. We are interested to hear about your knowledge or experience with any of these options, as well as any additional options that are not mentioned here. We welcome you sharing your pictures of septage transfer stations.

This is interesting, as I have heard of garbage transfer stations, but never of septage transfer stations.

How many cities in developing countries currently have septage transfer stations, and how are they managing it, as the relatively high ambient temperatures (Karachi's temperature yesterday was 45 degrees Celsius!) would solidify the septage, while journeying from narrow streets to the transfer stations?

F H Mughal

Please find attached the draft learning paper on Septage Transfer Stations.
Best,
Ant.

Dear colleagues,

I’m pleased to announce that from next week we will be starting a discussion on a new SNV/ISF learning paper, namely on Septage Transfer Stations. This discussion will be running here on the Forum, on the Faecal sludge transport subg-category of the sanitation systems category, and in parallel also on the WASH Asia urban san Dgroup.

The topic of Septage Transfer Stations has come up as one of the learning priorities, because it is an essential part of a faecal sludge management solution in cities with narrow roads and large distances to treatment facilities. In this learning paper we brought together existing knowledge on this topic, and we found out that there are only a few good examples. Through this discussion we are not only hoping to share the paper, but also to add examples and insight to it from your collective experience.

What will we discuss?
There will be 3 topics and each topic will run for one week, from Wednesday till Tuesday. At the end of the discussion, we’ll make a summary paper as input for the workshop. Below are the three topics. The discussion on the first topic will start next week.

week dates Topic
Week 1 24 June- 30 June Different options for septage transfer stations
Week 2 1 July- 7 July General considerations for septage transfer stations
Week 3 8 July-14 july Reflections on management arrangements for septage transfer stations

After the discussion, we will share an updated version of the learning paper on Septage Transfer Stations.

How does it work?
We are making the full learning paper available to you on the Faecal sludge transport subgroup today.

In addition to this, we will break up the information according to the above blocks. On the first day of the discussion, a Wednesday, you will find some questions in your inbox. Everybody is invited to share their ideas, comments and examples, responding to the message. All experiences and opinions are welcome and please don’t be shy to contribute.

On Tuesday, all messages of the week will be processed and integrated into a chapter of the summary document. This will be the same for all 3 topics.

Looking forward to hear from all of you over the coming weeks!

Best,
Ant.

Antoinette Kome
Global Sector Coordinator WASH

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation ǁ Jl. Kemang Timur Raya No. 66 ǁ Jakarta Selatan 12730 ǁ Indonesia ǁ T + 62 (21) 719 9900 ext 129 (office) ǁ +62 812 1368 2672 (HP/mobile) ǁ www.snvworld.org