[Watsan-wg] Fwd: RE: USAID sponsored report - A Rapid Assessment of Septage Management in Asia

[Ha Phan Thu]

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Please find the message bellow for introduction on USAID sponsored 
report - A Rapid Assessment of Septage Management in Asia. An electronic 
version of the report is available at www.waterlinks.org/septage-report 
<http://www.waterlinks.org/septage-report>

Thanks Lene a lot for sharing this with WSS WG members.

Best regards,
Thuha
==========================================


Dear Bruck and Thu Ha

Could you share this report with the WSS NGO Working Group (e.g., 
through the list serv)? The report deals with the issue of septage 
management -- or, rather, the lack thereof -- in a number of countries 
in South and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Though the report 
focuses on urban septage management, it has great relevance to the rural 
situation here in Vietnam as well. Rural households increasingly appear 
to prefer pour-flush and septic tank latrines, and little is known about 
the frequency at which these latrines are de-sludged (if at all) and 
what happens to the sludge after removal.

Kind regards,

Lene



--- On *Wed, 4/21/10, Campbell, Dan /<CampbellDB at cdm.com>/* wrote:


From: Campbell, Dan <CampbellDB at cdm.com>
Subject: FW: USAID sponsored report - A Rapid Assessment of Septage 
Management in Asia
To:
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 9:24 AM

Many thanks to Carl Mitchell of USAID for notifying us of this report:

*USAID ECO-Asia Releases Report Highlighting the Management of Urban 
Onsite Sanitation as a Critical Solution to Asia's Wastewater Crisis
*

*SUMMARY*
Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia), a program of the U.S. Agency 
for International Development, released a groundbreaking new study, **A 
Rapid Assessment of Septage Management in Asia: Policies and Practices 
in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and 
Vietnam**.  ECO-Asia  prepared the report in collaboration with the 
Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries at the Swiss 
Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, and in 
consultation with stakeholders from a range of Asian national 
governments, water and wastewater operators, research agencies, and 
international development agencies. The report comprehensively documents 
the weak state of septage management for onsite sanitation systems, the 
main form of urban sanitation in many Asian cities. It provides a 
regional analysis of key challenges and existing good practices related 
to septage management, and highlights strategies through which 
governments, water and wastewater operators, and development assistance 
agencies can promote septage management as a practical near-term 
solution to the region's critical sanitation challenges. The key finding 
is that most countries neglect septage management, which results in 
significant urban water, environmental and public health damages. 
Nevertheless, a number of countries and cities in the region have 
established effective regulations, treatment facilities and supporting 
programs that can be replicated across Asia through focused water 
operator partnerships.  USAID supports water operator partnerships 
through the WaterLinks network. An electronic version of the report is 
available at www.waterlinks.org/septage-report 
<http://www.waterlinks.org/septage-report>.

*Introduction*
The assessment, the first of its kind, documents the current weak state 
of management for the wastewater that accumulates in onsite sanitation 
systems, the predominant form of urban sanitation in these seven Asian 
countries. It identifies challenges and existing good practices, and 
highlights strategies through which governments, water and wastewater 
operators, and official development assistance can promote septage 
management as a practical near-term solution to the region's critical 
sustainable sanitation challenges.

*Key Findings
*Existing Impact of Onsite Sanitation in Asia: Urban access to improved 
sanitation has risen to 57% and 78% in South Asia and Southeast Asia, 
respectively, due largely to investments in onsite sanitation systems 
such as septic tanks and pour-flush latrines. While on paper these 
facilities count towards the Millennium Development Goals targets for 
sanitation, in reality, most of these facilities drain untreated into 
waterways and groundwater, and reenter the food and water cycle. In the 
countries studied in this report, 29% to 89% of urban households rely on 
septic tanks, but India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and 
Vietnam treat 5% or less of their septage.

*Key Challenges to Septage Management*
Despite its prevalence, onsite sanitation is a neglected component of 
urban sanitation and wastewater management. Policymakers in most 
countries are not fully aware of the urgent need to set policies, 
allocate funding, and build capacity to manage septage. This translates 
into a range of implementation challenges, including weak enforcement of 
septic tank construction codes; lack of data on the location and condition
of septic tanks; septage and wastewater infrastructure development 
without corresponding adoption of local policies and regulations, 
comprehensive capacity building programs or public promotion 
initiatives; limited local capacity to design, construct, and operate 
collection and treatment infrastructure; and tariff structures that do 
not promote cost recovery, compliance with septage management 
regulations, or entrepreneurship. In addition, while private operators 
provide septage collection and disposal services in most countries in 
the region, few local governments or utilities regulate their 
activities, or leverage their capabilities to expand local scheduled 
desludging services.

*Existing Good Practices in the Region*
Despite these challenges, the assessment identified good policies and 
practices in septage management in every country related to legal and 
institutional frameworks, infrastructure development, private sector 
involvement, capacity building, and service promotion. While Malaysia is 
the clear leader of the target countries examined, all other countries 
have developed some good practices that deserve recognition. Since 
countries in the region - notably India, the Philippines, and Vietnam - 
are increasingly recognizing the need to invest in septage management as 
a complement to sewerage development, the good practices identified in 
the USAID report should serve as a catalyst for replication and scale up.
*
Initiatives for Promoting Septage Management in Asia*
The report proposes several specific actions that USAID and other 
development partners can pursue to encourage septage management in Asia. 
These priority actions include: (i) cooperate through WaterLinks to 
develop water operator partnerships that enable to replication of best 
practices; (ii) support operators and national water associations in 
scaling up individual good practices within a target service area; (iii) 
help operators develop services based on public-private partnerships; 
(iv) promote knowledge sharing and support for research and development 
to build the region's capacity to manage septage.

In accordance with the UN Hashimoto Action Plan, which highlights water 
operator partnerships (WOPs) as an important mechanism for building the 
capacity of water and wastewater operators, USAID, the Asian Development 
Bank and the International Water Association established WaterLinks, the 
WOPs network for Asia. Under WaterLinks, ECO-Asia facilitates 
partnerships to promote access to improved water and sanitation in Asia, 
including those that strengthen local capacity to manage septage and 
urban onsite sanitation.

In 2010, through cooperation with WaterLinks, ECO-Asia is supporting a 
water operator partnership between Indah Water Konsortium (IWK), 
Malaysia's national sewerage services provider, and the Sewerage and 
Drainage Company (SADCO) in Hai Phong, Vietnam, to help establish the 
first comprehensive septage management program in Vietnam. The 
partnership will i) strengthen SADCO's capacity to provide desludging 
services and sludge treatment; ii) train SADCO to promote its services 
to households and businesses; and iii) develop a local wastewater and 
septage ordinance. Upon project completion, the Vietnamese Water Supply 
and Sewerage Association and the Ministry of Construction will make 
efforts to promote replication practices throughout Vietnam.



Dan Campbell, Web Manager
Environmental Health at USAID
1611 North Kent St., Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22209
Ph: 703-247-8722
Email: dcampbell at usaid.gov </mc/compose?to=dcampbell at usaid.gov>
Environmental Health at USAID: http://www.ehproject.org 
<http://www.ehproject.org/>
Indoor Air Pollution Updates: http://iapnews.wordpress.com 
<http://iapnews.wordpress.com/>
Sanitation Updates: http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com 
<http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/>
Urban Health Updates: http://urbanhealthupdates.wordpress.com 
<http://urbanhealthupdates.wordpress.com/>
Cholera Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/cholera-control
Household Water Treatment Google Group: 
http://groups.google.com/group/household-water-treatment

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