Samtse town now has a faecal sludge treatment plant. The plant, constructed at a cost of Nu 1.8m, is the first of its kind in the country.
The faecal sludge collected in septic tanks and pit latrines in the town area will be now disposed of in the treatment plant, which was inaugurated yesterday. The plant has a capacity to treat faeces from about three thousand households.
Explaining how the plant works, the Project Engineer, Anik Dutta, said the sludge will be first disposed in the sludge inlet where the solid faeces will be separated from the liquid. “The liquid then travels through the pipe and reaches a unit called integrated settler where it will treated,” said the project engineer.
The treated water, the project engineer said, can be used for landscaping and gardening. It can be also released into the water bodies.
The plant treats sludge in a natural way without any direct human contact and with minimal operation and maintenance requirements. The plant is, therefore considered, environment friendly.
“This is a natural process, which doesn’t require human interference,” said Kinzang Dorji, the District Engineer. “Since we do not have underground drainage system, this is going to benefit the town residents at large.”
The foul odor emitted by the sludge lingers only for about thirty minutes after its disposal into the treatment plant. The treated water does not stink and it is intended to be used for irrigation.
Until now, due to lack of an underground drainage system, the town residents relied on septic tanks and pit latrines, which required periodic emptying. In addition, the lack of designated disposal area led to unsafe dumping of faecal sludge onto the land and into the river. This is not expected to happen now that the town has a faecal sludge treatment plant.
The treatment plant was constructed with funds from the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement and technical support from BORDA-SA.
BORDA, Bremen Overseas Research & Development Association, is a non-profit international organisation that works towards an improved sanitation. It focuses on decentralised sanitation including waste water treatment and solid waste management.
