Waste is a resource in the wrong place

February 27, 2013

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Across the world, millions of pit latrines are filling up. In many instances, these pits are emptied and the fecal sludge is dumped indiscriminately. This second generation sanitation challenge of postponed open defecation has been largely neglected in the sector. Bangladesh is not an exception and it is an issue that we have to face and deal with.

WASH

Across the world, millions of pit latrines are filling up. In many instances, these pits are emptied and the fecal sludge is dumped indiscriminately. This second generation sanitation challenge of postponed open defecation has been largely neglected in the sector. Bangladesh is not an exception and it is an issue that we have to face and deal with.

BRAC and IRC are exploring different routes to deal with the problem of pits filling up.  Our starting point is that ‘waste is a resource in the wrong place’. 

In the case of fecal sludge from pit latrines, it is necessary to provide some treatment after emptying to change the fecal sludge from a health hazard into a real resource Using treated fecal sludge from the pits as organic fertilizer is an efficient way of  using the pit content in a profitable way. After a year of undisturbed storage, 15 to 20 kilograms of fecal sludge can be collected per pit for further treatment.

The BRAC WASH program is following three different paths.

  • Parts of the latrine are single pit latrines and hence the sludge from these pits is highly contaminated.  Action research on low-cost treatment technologies will be initiated soon.  Find more on this here.
  • The second approach is to explore the technical and commercial feasibility of large-scale digestion of a mix of agricultural waste and fecal sludge to make use of both the energy in the agricultural waste and the fecal sludge as well as the nutrients.
  • The third approach is to build on existing small-scale practices. In our initial research we found that in Bangladesh, like in many other countries, faecal sludge is being used by farmers already. Another example of reuse of fecal sludge is  the case of Bangalore.  We found similar practices in Bangladesh.  This approach specifically focuses on the productive use of fecal sludge from twin pit latrines.

Digging deeper into the third approach, our trials conducted in 2012 have confirmed that there is potential market for organic fertilizer from faecal sludge. Fecal sludge from twin pit latrines  meets a number of the Bangladeshi standards for organic fertilizers, including nitrogen and phosphorus content. A first agricultural test indicates that fecal sludge potentially is more effective than cow dung, but further tests are needed to confirm the initial results. Microbiological tests showed that the fecal sludge contains disease-causing micro-organisms even after the fecal sludge has remained undisturbed in the pit for a period of 12 months. Thus, it is imperative that the fecal sludge is further treated after emptying to reduce disease-causing micro-organisms before its use as an organic fertilizer.

There are thus a range of challenges to address. Digbijoy Dey – micro-biologist and Regional Sector Specialist from the BRAC WASH Program – talks to us about some of the microbiological aspects of the project.

During the initial sampling of fecal sludge, the helminth content found in the fecal sludge is above WHO guidelines. What is being done regarding this matter?
Treatment trials are being carried out. Short periods of sun drying have shown some good results, with the quantity of helminths greatly reduced. We will further investigate how long period of sun drying is needed to comply to the WHO Guidelines and whether this will be feasible in the Bangladeshi climate.

There were also problems meeting some of the Bangladeshi standards for organic fertilizers, such as potassium levels, humidity and pH. Have these issues been resolved?
Humidity has been lowered by sun drying and adding ash. Moreover, ash also acts as a buffer to adjust the pH. Ash addition will also increase the K content, so we think that we are doing well on the compliance to the Bangladeshi standards for organic fertilizers.

Sharmin Farhat Ubaid, Program Manager at BRAC WASH, tells us about some of the challenges in the business development for using faecal sludge as organic fertilizer.

What is one of the main obstacles against using faecal sludge as organic fertilizer?
For fecal sludge as an organic fertilizer in Bangladesh there is no legislative policy on this subject but we need to follow the terms and condition that developed for the organic fertilizer in Bangladesh policies.

A key issue is that of social and religious taboos against using human fecal waste as fertilizer. To overcome this problem, we are taking two approaches. One approach is through social motivation: we are speaking to farmers, fertilizer dealers and fertilizer producers. Another approach is through plot demonstrations to show the production in comparison with other fertilizer for marketing. We have done successful field trials on cabbage, comparing the yields using different fertilizers and there is an on-going field trial with rice for which the results are due in March. As is often said: Seeing is believing.  So, we are going to use our findings to demonstrate directly to the villagers to show them that using fecal sludge as organic fertilizer works and can be profitable by increasing the yields. Moreover, an important point to note is we have seen that although using fecal sludge as fertilizer is a taboo, it is a practice that is commonly carried out by farmers but often spoken about openly.

Chemical fertilizers are highly subsidized. Can the organic fertilizers enter such a competitive market?
It will not be feasible to subsidize our organic fertilizer, but on the matter of chemical fertilizers, it is important to note that our organic fertilizer is not meant to compete with chemical fertilizers in the market, because a certain amount of chemical fertilizers will always be used. Rather, we hope to eventually reduce the use of chemical fertilizer through increased use of organic fertilizer by showing the benefits in the production. However, remaining competitive and ensure commercial viability of the micro-enterprises.

Stay tuned for more updates from the BRAC WASH Program.

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