Pour-flush toilets with biogas plant at DSK Training Institute, Gujarat, India - Draft - Case study of sustainable sanitation projects

Content - Summary

This case study is about the improvement of sanitation, specifically in rural areas. Navsarjan Trust aims to implement, evaluate and disseminate socially and culturally acceptable, sustainable and hygienically safe sanitation, treatment and reuse concepts for human excreta (urine and faeces) and greywater. The project offered vocational training institute with variable number of students (up to approx. 240) and guests attending meetings, workshops; 22 pour-flush toilets and biogas digester. The project was planned by seecon gmbh (Swiss consulting firm) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH, GTZ (currently Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, GIZ) Sustainable sanitation - ecosan program and executed by the Indian NGO Navsarjan Trust with the support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via GTZ.

The objectives of this project were to find technical solutions that can help in the elimination of manual scavenging practices, which is a caste-based occupation in India and a source of discrimination; to improve the sanitation situation at this rural training institute; to provide Navsarjan Trust with first-hand experiences on sustainable sanitation concepts and further dissemination of knowledge on ecosan in the state of Gujarat.

The new sanitation concept includes the following components:

- Water supply: the entire water used at the campus is groundwater from lower depth(approx. 200 m). The water is pumped into a surface storage tank and then pumped to an overhead storage tank. Due to its high salinity, water used for cooking and drinking is treated in a reverse osmosis plant. The brine (approx. 3,000 litres/d) resulting from the production of approx. 1,000 litres of drinking water per day is collected on the roof of the kitchen building and used as flushing water for the pour-flush toilets. Water spent for non-portable purposes such as showering, etc. is not pre-treated but used directly.
- Pour flush toilets and biogas plant: A new and conveniently located (75m from Community Training Centre and less than 75m from the Hostel ) common sanitation complex was built for the approx. 250 people staying on the campus on an average. The sanitation complex consists of 22 toilet cabins (11 for females and 11 for males) arranged in a circular shape around a biogas plant located in the centre.
- Urinal Centre: The former common toilet centre has been converted into a urinal centre. Two independent enclosures provide urinals for ladies and gents (9 and 13, respectively). The urine is collected in 4 tanks and pumped to storage / hygienisation tanks when full. This is done to make the urine available by gravity while being transported to the fields with jerry cans or container carts.
- Greywater from dishwashing and kitchen area: A new stall for dishwashing was built. It was planned to lead the dishwashing stall effluent via a vertical flow organic filter (filter material: rice husk) to a storage tank.
- Greywater from showers: 2 new shower blocks comprising shower facilities (total number: 40), washbasins and laundry facilities have been constructed behind the hostel building and next to the Community Training Centre to serve people staying at the campus.
- Sludge drying beds: The slurry (digestate) from the biogas plant is led to a drying bed, composted and then stored for a further reuse as soil conditioner.
- Organic solid waste management: Kitchen waste is disposed of in a landfill and grass clippings are used to cover the sludge drying beds. These materials could however be fed to the biogas plant provided they are chopped before. But due to lack of time and staff this is presently not done.

The following products are being reused: biogas, urine and greywater. Operation and maintenance is a major issue in the success of any sustainable sanitation project. Therefore trained institute staff does operation and maintenance. Two gardeners and one “ecosan person” are responsible for the maintenance of the grounds. Three years after its implementation, the sanitation system on the DSK campus is working satisfactorily even though the operation team aims at further improvements.

Bibliographic information

Wafler, M., Heeb, J., Olt, C. (2009). Pour-flush toilets with biogas plant at DSK Training Institute, Gujarat, India - Draft - Case study of sustainable sanitation projects. Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA)

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Biogas systems Case studies in SuSanA template East Asia & Pacific English Faeces or faecal sludge Rural

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