AUST

Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology Department of Civil Engineering Course Name: Environmental Engg. Lab. II Course No.: CE 432

Assignment On: Wastewater Treatment in the last 25 years in Bangladesh.

Submitted To, Mr. Tanvir Faysal

Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering. AUST.

Submitted By, Shaibal Ahmed ID: 09.02.03.049 Year: 4.1/A

Bio-electric wastewater treatment in Bangladesh (2012)

An industrial wastewater treatment facility has commenced full operation to treat effluent from Dhakas Economic Processing Zone (DEPZ) industries. Singapore company- Flagship Ecosystems Investment Private Limited (FESI) established the SGD10 million treatment plant in Bangladesh on a 30-year Build-Own-Operate arrangement with BEPZA (the free trade zone authority in Bangladesh).

Operations started at the facility with it treating an estimated 15,000 m3/day of effluent to serve the collective needs of the more than 44 companies in the Old Zone of Savar DEPZ. The CETP will expand its capacity to 43,000 m3/day within the next year to receive effluent from the 55 companies in the New Zone of Savar DEPZ. Effluent is treated to meet Bangladeshi Department of Environment Regulations before being discharged into the inland waterway. At present BEPZA has no plan to re-cycle the water. The CETP employs a newly developed Bio-Electric Process to treat the effluent using a Bio-Electric treatment profile on a co-mingled industrial wastewater stream.

The country's national water policy was mainly focused on agricultural issues and was aimed at food self-sufficiency. Accordingly, flood control drainage and irrigation projects were the most common measures. In the 1990s the necessity of a more comprehensive approach was recognized, leading to the formulation of a National Water Policy.

History The first central institution in the water sector in what is now Bangladesh was the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Agency (EPWAPDA), created in 1959 to plan, construct and operate all water development schemes. In 1964, EPWAPDA, with the assistance of the United States development agency USAID, prepared a 20-year Water Master Plan, including flood control. Although infrastructure was constructed, the lack of operation and maintenance, among other things, soon led to its deterioration. After the independence from Pakistan in 1971, EPWAPDA was restructured and renamed the Bangladesh Water Development Board. The new republic soon gained support from several agencies. The World Bank published the Land and Water Sector Study in 1972, advocating small-scale flood control and irrigation projects. As a result, small-scale irrigation spread quickly during the 1970s and 1980s, partly financed by the private sector. In light of the growing population and the expanding agricultural and industrial sectors, in 1983 the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) was founded and the newly created Master Plan Organization (MPO) started to draw up a comprehensive National Water Plan (NWP). The first phase of the NWP was completed in 1986 and included an assessment of available water resources and future demand. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a lack of attention to intersectional and environmental issues led the national government to reject the plan. Consequently, the second phase of the NWP was drawn up from 1987 to 1991, including an estimate of the available groundwater and surface water as well as a draft water law. The draft also took into account environmental needs. In 1991, the MPO was restructured and renamed the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO). Two destructive floods in 1987 and 1988 were followed by increased international attention and assistance. In 1989, several studies were prepared by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDO) and national agencies from France, the United States, Japan, and others. The World Bank coordinated the donor activities. At the end of the year, the Flood Action Plan (FAP) was approved by the national government of Bangladesh. However, according to Chadwick the plan was criticized by some donors and civil

society. The planned participation of civil society was hampered by the military dictatorship that governed the country at that time. Later, the national government approved the FAP's final report, called the Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy (BWFMS), in 1995 with the support of donor agencies. Among other things, the strategy proposed the formulation of a comprehensive national water management plan, increased user participation and environmental impact assessment as integral parts of planning. Consequently, the Flood Planning Coordination Organization (FPCO), which had been established in 1992 to coordinate the studies, was merged with WARPO in 1996. National Water Policy and related policies In 1999, on the recommendation of the World Bank and after extensive consultation with all relevant actors, including NGOs and the civil society, the National Water Policy (NWP) was adopted. The document explicitly states 6 main objectives: 1. To address the use and development of groundwater and surface water in an efficient and equitable way 2. To ensure the availability of water to all parts of the society 3. To accelerate the development of public and private water systems through legal and financial measures and incentives, including appropriate water rights and water pricing rules 4. To formulate institutional changes, encouraging decentralization and enhancing the role of women in water management 5. To provide a legal and regulatory framework which encourages decentralization, consideration of environmental impacts, and private sector investment 6. To develop knowledge and capability in order to facilitate improved future water resources management plans to encourage, among other things, broad user participation Program and Projects (Implemented by PRISM) Community based Urban Wastewater Treatment: PRISM Bangladesh is implementing the Community Based Urban Wastewater Treatment (Component 3.3) Project in Khulna Municipal Area, which is one of the major components of Sustainable Environment Management Program (SEMP) under NEMAP of Bangladesh. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is the main implementing agency. The program is financed by UNDP. The main objectives of the program are to:

(a) Mobilize, motivate and train the communities on environmental issue and waste management aspects. (b) Introduce and adopt appropriate preventive measures and practices at the sources of wastewater and solid waste generation. (c) Identify and isolate various solid waste and wastewater generated according to their composition at the source and institute separate collection systems. (d) Improve the general nutritional level of the population by increased and availability of protein feed for fish poultry and organic fertilizer. (e) Improve community environmental sanitation and general health of people. (f) Introduce community managed, operated and maintained waste management systems, which are commercially sustainable by them. (g) Initiate a pilot scheme for Hospital Waste Management; and (h) Undertake solid waste composting activities installing compost plants in different places of Khulna City. PRISM Bangladesh is implementing an integrated waste management programme under Community Based Urban Wastewater Treatment Project. Three major areas are covered under the project i.e. Urban Wastewater Treatment, Urban Solid Waste Management and Hospital Waste Management. Urban Wastewater Treatment Two demonstration duckweed based urban wastewater treatment plants have been installed and are being operated successfully by the local community. The urban wastewater is being treated with duckweed, a floating aquatic plant. The duckweed is harvested and used directly as high protein fish feed. Fish is also being produced to make protein available and as well as to make the treatment plant viable.

Solid Waste Management and Composting Solid waste management activities are going on in Khulna City. The system consists of safe collection and disposal introducing door-to-door collection and disposing to KCC secondary collection point providing all logistic supports. 72 numbers collection vans are involved for collecting solid waste through community participation covering 26 wards out of 31 wards of Khulna City. 17 local level NGOs/CBOs are involved in the service of solid waste. PRISM is composting the collected solid wastes segregating the organic part installing four compost plants in suitable places in four KCC wards. Hospital Waste Management PRISM has reviewed the duckweed Based Urban Wastewater Treatment Project and included the Community Based Hospital Waste Management. The component is now being implemented providing service to 75 private clinics including government hospitals. The objectives of hospital waste management services are to: Motivate and organize small private clinics and government hospitals to improve their internal environment. Raise awareness and skill among hospital and clinical staff on safe waste management. Reduce occupational health hazards among hospital and clinic staff especially wastes handlers. Reduce urban environmental pollution covering hospital and clinical waste as an integral part of waste management. Reduce public health risk covered by mismanagement of hospital and clinical waste.

Furthermore, WARPO has developed a National Water Management Plan (NWMP), which was approved by NWRC in 2004 and aims at implementing the NWP within 25 years. It is expected to be reviewed and updated every five years. In 2005, the national government included the improvement of water supply and sanitation as part of its agenda for reducing poverty. Complementing the National Water Policy, the government adopted the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation in 1998. In 2004 it also adopted a National Policy for Arsenic Mitigation in 2004.The policy emphasizes public awareness, alternative safe water supply, proper diagnosis and management of patients, and capacity building. In terms of alternative supplies it gives "preference to surface water over groundwater". The latter aspect is controversial, since surface water is often highly contaminated with pathogens while deeper groundwater is often safe and free of arsenic.

Innovative approaches
A number of innovative approaches to improve access to and the sustainability of water supply and sanitation were developed in Bangladesh since the turn of the millennium. These include community-led total sanitation and new management models for piped rural water supply, both further described below. In addition, innovative pilot projects were initatiated in Dhaka. The first provided water to hitherto un-served slum areas through community-based organizations with the assistance of the NGO Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK) and Water Aid from the UK. The second is a pilot for a small-bore sewer system in the Mirpur area of Dhaka with financing from the Asian Development Bank. A third project involved contracting out billing and collection to a worker's cooperative as an alternative to private sector participation. Community-led total sanitation In 2000 a new approach to increasing sanitation coverage, called community-led total sanitation (CLTS), was first introduced in Bangladesh in a small village in the Rajshahi District by Dr. Kamal Kar in cooperation with Water Aid Bangladesh and the Village Education Resource Centre (VERC). Until then, most traditional sanitation programs relied on the provision of subsidies for the construction of latrines and hygiene education. Under this framework, the subsidized facilities were expensive and often did not reach all members of a community.

In addition, the subsidies may have reduced the feeling of personal responsibility for the toilets. These perceived shortcomings led to the development of the CLTS approach in Bangladesh, shifting the focus on personal responsibility and low-cost solutions. CLTS aims to totally stop open defecation within a community rather than facilitating improved sanitation only to selected households. Awareness of local sanitation issues is raised through a walk to open defecation areas and water points (walk of shame) and a calculation of the amount of excreta caused by open defecation. Combined with hygiene education, the approach aims to make the entire community realize the severe health impacts of open defecation. Since individual carelessness may affect the entire community, pressure on each person becomes stronger to follow sanitation principles such as using sanitary toilets, washing hands, and practicing good hygiene. To introduce sanitation even in the poorest households, low-cost toilets are promoted, constructed with local materials. The purchase of the facility is not subsidized, so that every household must finance its own toilets. In 2006, the number of villages with total sanitation was estimated at more than 5,000 throughout the country. At the same time, CLTS had spread in at least six countries in Asia and three in Africa. In 2009, the UN Special Reporters for the human right to water and sanitation noted that "the experience of Bangladesh (with CLTS) has positively influenced countries in other regions of the world and has instilled confidence in the belief that low-cost sanitation is possible. It has also had a powerful effect in breaking the taboo that often surrounds the issue of sanitation. The independent expert observed that most people with whom she met, including the Prime Minister, were pleased, and even proud, to discuss sanitation and the achievements of Bangladesh in this domain." However, she also noted "concerns (...) about a lack of monitoring of continued latrine usage, maintenance of latrines and over reporting of sanitation coverage". New management models for piped rural water supply Deep tube wells with electric pumps are common as source of water supply for irrigation in Bangladesh. The government had long been interested in making the operation of these tube wells more financially viable. One option considered was to increase revenues by selling water from deep tube wells as drinking water and for small-scale commercial operations, thus at the same time addressing the arsenic crisis. Also, the government was interested in developing new management models beyond pure community management in order to both mobilize funding and improve the quality and sustainability of service provision. To that effect two parallel innovative approaches have been pursued.

Rural Development Academy multipurpose schemes. These efforts to combine piped drinking water and irrigation schemes were initiated in 1999 by the Rural Development Academy (RDA) with government funds and no donor involvement. RDA invited sponsors and offered to finance the construction of the well and the water supply system under the condition that:

the sponsors from the community would create a water user association (samitee), pay for 10% of the investment costs at the time of completion of the construction, operate and maintain the system for 10 years, and pay back the remaining 90% of the investment costs over this period.

As of January 2008, 73 small schemes had been completed, both in areas where the shallow aquifer is contaminated by arsenic and those where this is not the case. Sponsors are NGOs, cooperatives or individuals. The number of applicants each year outnumbers the schemes to be constructed. However, tariffs have been set at relatively low levels, so that the operators barely break even and have not paid back the loans for 90% of the investment costs. Revenues from irrigation typically account for a third of the revenues of the water schemes, the remainder coming from the sale of drinking water.

Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project. Another approach has been supported by the World Bank through the Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project (BWSPP), implemented by the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE). This approach, initiated in 2001, has been inspired by the RDA experience, but with two crucial modifications: First, it required sponsors to come up with the entire financing up-front, which was supposed to be recovered through revenues from the sale of water. Second, only drinking water was to be provided and no irrigation water. Finding sponsors willing to put their own capital at risk proved to be difficult. For this reason, and due to project management difficulties, only two schemes had been built as of January 2008, providing water to 2,000 households. Neither scheme has become financially viable. An NGO built and operates the schemes, since no private company was interested in doing so.

Bibliography (n.d.). Retrieved from wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from waterworld.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from prismbd.org