Dear Ms Rohini Pradeep,

Thank you very much for sharing these thoughtful and detailed inputs. I sincerely appreciate the time you took to provide such comprehensive suggestions.

My current focus has been primarily on capturing the quality of faecal sludge characteristics, given the limited time frame of the study. However, your recommendations on including contextual factors (such as source, cleansing materials, soil type, and desludging mode), deriving per-capita FS generation, and enabling location-specific insights are very valuable. These will be carefully considered for the next phase of refinement and expansion of the database to make it more robust and useful for a broader range of stakeholders.

Regarding your point on generating knowledge products such as summary reports, white papers, and technical briefs — the database has already been developed in Microsoft Access, which allows one to generate reports and summaries through queries based on specific information needs. Notwithstanding, I welcome further feedback on how these outputs could be structured to best inform policy, guideline development, and decision-making for the FSM sector.

Thank you once again for your valuable input. I look forward to sharing progress updates with you as the work evolves.

Best regards,
Chekwubechukwu Victory Chibueze

Dear Paresh,

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback and suggestions regarding the database structure. I appreciate your recommendation on using drop-down values and validation rules — I agree that this would make the database more user-friendly and help prevent incorrect entries, thereby improving its reliability for future research.

Regarding your question, for studies where I could not access the raw data, I used the summary statistics (minimum, maximum, mean, median, and SD) provided by the authors. For studies where I had access to the raw data, I entered the data as provided under the "mean" column without calculating a separate mean.

I recognise that this is not a perfect arrangement yet, but your feedback will guide me in refining and improving the database going forward.

Thank you again for your guidance, and I will keep you updated on my progress.

Best regards,
Victory

Dear Ms. Chekwubechukwu Victory Chibueze

Thank you for this initiative. It will definitely support the FSM sector by providing much-needed real-time data, especially since fecal sludge characteristics are often uncertain.

Here are my inputs:
Parameters for inclusion: Along with standard FS characteristics, the tables should capture contextual factors such as the source of FS (toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, etc.), type of cleansing materials used, soil type, water table at the sampling location, and mode of desludging.
Database outcomes: The data should be presented in a way that highlights the typical ranges of FS characteristics and the key influencing parameters. Since information on containment dimensions, sludge volume, and number of users will be available, it would be useful to derive per-capita FS generation (L/person/day).
Target users: The primary beneficiaries will be designers, researchers, and government agencies involved in developing guidelines and standards.
Location-specific insights: The database should allow country- and town-specific information on FS generation and characteristics.
Knowledge products: It would be valuable to generate summary reports, such as white papers or technical briefs, that can inform policy and guideline development for FSTPs and FSM systems.

I hope these inputs are useful for your further actions.

Regards
Rohini Pradeep
Senior Program Manager
CDD India
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Dear  Victory,
This list of parameters and the structuring of the database look good.  Its presentation could be improved to make it easier to read. I would suggest having drop-down values (where the responses are binary or only a few alternatives) or establishing validation rules. This will avoid wrong entries into the database, thereby improving its quality and reliability in future research. 

Further, wondering if this database will include details of every sample collected in each study or will it be average or median values.

All the best, and keep us posted about your progress. 
Regards,
paresh 

Dear Nida,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback and for reviewing my database. I greatly appreciate your suggestions.

One of the parameters you mentioned, such as emptying time, is already included in the “Additional Description” field. However, as observed, there is some heterogeneity in reporting across different studies — some provide these details, while others do not.
I agree that finding a standardised way to capture this information will improve consistency and usability.

With further refinement, we can also create clearer distinctions and better structure these data fields, making them more accessible and practical for analysis.

Thank you once again for your valuable guidance and input.

Best regards,
Chekwubechukwu Victory Chibueze
Institute of Water Education, IHE Delft

Dear Victory,

Thank you for sharing the insight from your study. This initiative looks quite good in terms of developing the global dataset for fecal sludge characterization. It would be helpful if you could include the following in the dataset:
1. emptying frequency / when was last emptying
2. material used for cleaning (water/ toilet paper / other)

Rest the dataset, and its organization looks handy. It can be used to evaluate the characteristics of fecal sludge similar to your area, and one can find the best strategies/technologies to manage.

Dear SuSanA Community,

I am a master’s research student at the Institute of Water Education, IHE Delft, conducting a research study titled “Development of Database and Decision-Making Tool for Treatment of Faecal Sludge ” under the supervision of Prof. Damir Brdjanovic and Dr. Konstantina Velkushanova.

I have developed a Microsoft Access database of faecal sludge (FS) characteristics to facilitate access to FS data, which may serve as a foundation for developing a decision-support tool for treatment. This database concept serves as a prototype, laying the groundwork for the larger global database currently being developed by a consortium of 12 laboratories globally and a team of developers announced on the LinkedIn page of the Global Sanitation Graduate School (GSGS) earlier this year. While it may contribute data to the global system, the specific integration process and data pathways are yet to be fully defined. The database compiles data from multiple studies and presents it in an accessible format.

For an overview of the database design and properties, please refer to the attached PDF. 

To ensure it meets the needs of practitioners and researchers to make the required impact in society, I would appreciate your feedback on:

1. Critical Parameters –   Are the parameters included sufficient, or are there others you consider essential?
2. Presentation Format –   Is the layout and functionality clear, or should it be redesigned (Excel table, dashboard, or web platform)?
3. Target Users –     Who do you think would benefit most from this resource?
4. Improvements – What changes would make it more useful for field application and decision-making?

Your suggestions will guide improvements and ensure the database becomes a practical tool for the FSM community.

Thank you for taking the time to review and share your insights!

Best regards,
Chekwubechukwu Victory Chibueze
Institute of Water Education,
IHE Delft.
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