Tricia’s snippets 2012-08-09

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From Sanitation Updates:

Policy Lessons from Implementing India’s Total Sanitation Campaign
Aug 14, 2012 – “Reinvent the Toilet” awards from the Gates Foundation
Posted: 08 Aug 2012

Recognising and dealing with informal influences in water and sanitation services delivery
Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:28 AM PDT

Treatment Wetlands – Sustainable Sanitation Practice, July 2012
Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:02 AM PDT

Potential PhD in Menstrual Hygiene Management at WEDC, Loughborough University
Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:10 PM PDT

SHARE – Small-scale finance for water and sanitation
Help a local journalist examine the sustainability of a water and sanitation project in Benin
Posted: 26 Jul 2012

WASHplus Weekly: Focus on HIV/AIDS and WASH
Posted: 20 Jul 2012 07:53 AM PDT

 IRC research calls on BRAC WASH II Programme
Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:31 AM PDT

RIO + 20
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (homepage)
http://www.uncsd2012.org/index.html
Leading to :The future we want
http://www.uncsd2012.org/resources.html
Leading to: RIO+20 Issue briefs

Related publication:
From Rio to Rio: a 20-year journey to green the world’s economies (May 2012)
Washington, DC: Global Environment Facility
http://www.thegef.org/gef/sites/thegef.org/files/publication/GEF-fromRiotoRio-May11-CRA-lo.pdf

From IWA Water21 Global News 24 July 2012:

Mobile water suitcase for emergency supply
Trunz has launched its Survivor 3000 mobile water treatment unit for drinking water provision to rescue workers after emergency events. For full product story, visit: http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=w21prodnews240712a

ITS produces small arsenic test kits for private well owners
ITS has developed smaller versions of its Quick Arsenic Test Kits to help private well owners test the presence of inorganic arsenic. For full product story, visit: http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=w21prodnews240712d

From UNDP:

Assessing Progress in Africa toward the Millennium Development Goals 2012
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/mdg-reports/africa-collection/

WSUP Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor
Sharing and Learning
http://www.wsup.com/sharing/index.htm
(many interesting downloads from here)
A selection from recent email alerts:

Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
Volume 2 Number 2 (2012)

Open trickling filter: an innovative, cheap and simple form of post-treatment of sanitary effluents from anaerobic reactors in small communities
P. C. Vieira and M. von Sperling………. 59–67
ABSTRACT
We aimed to evaluate the performance and cost savings of an innovative design of a trickling filter (TF) for small population sizes, developed at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil referred to as an open trickling filter (OTF). The OTF had no side walls and no perforated bottom slab, and was applied for the post-treatment of sanitary sewage from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The OTF had crushed-stone packing (3.5 m high) and was operated with an average surface hydraulic loading rate of 4.1 m3 m−2 d−1 and an average volumetric organic loading rate of 0.10 kg BOD m−3 d−1 (biochemical oxygen demand). The average concentrations obtained at the OTF effluent were 48 mg TSS L−1 (total suspended solids), 132 mg COD L−1 (chemical oxygen demand), 51 mg BOD L−1, 19 mg TKN L−1 (total Kjeldahl nitrogen), 16 mg NH4+-N L−1 and 10 mg NO3−-N L−1, complying with local discharge standards. Analysis of the construction costs indicated savings of 74% compared to conventional TF. Based on the performance, compactness, simplicity and reduced capital costs, it is believed that the proposed OTF is a good alternative for small communities, especially in developing countries.

Sludge removal from primary wastewater stabilization ponds with excessive accumulation: a sustainable method for developing regions
Stewart M. Oakley, Luciana Coêlho Mendonça and Sérgio Rolim Mendonça………. 68–78
ABSTRACT
Wastewater stabilization ponds have long been considered a sustainable treatment option for developing regions. Sludge buildup in primary ponds is also a sustainability issue since ponds must be desludged every 2–15 years depending on their design and solids loading. Pond systems in developing regions are often designed without a desludging plan and operated without the amortized desludging cost included in the operation and maintenance budget. This paper presents a method where sludge drying within a pond is effected by rooted plants; after drying, the sludge is removed with a mid-sized excavator. The method was tested in the desludging of a primary pond in Tela, Honduras, where sludge 4 m deep was dried to a solid (TS ≈ 18%) to a depth >1 m using the wetland plant Ludwigia octovalvis. The data suggest that both evapotranspiration and drainage through the root system contributed to dewatering. The total cost in 2011 US dollars was $13,716 or $4.47 m3 removed, which was paid from the municipality’s general fund without external aid. The method presented is sustainable, and serves as a model for desludging operations where excessive sludge accumulation has occurred – a likely scenario in many primary ponds in developing regions

Impact of climate and bulking materials on characteristics of compost from ecological toilets
James W. McKinley, Rebecca E. Parzen and Álvaro Mercado Guzmán………. 79–86
ABSTRACT
Urine-diversion dehydration toilets (UDDT) are common throughout the developing world, and the toilet product is widely used as compost. There is no comprehensive research to date that characterizes the compost to determine its quality, extent of pathogen inactivation, and the effects of climate and bulking materials on the compost. Compost was collected from 45 UDDT in Bolivia and analyzed for physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Eighty percent and 56% of samples did not meet acceptable compost guidelines for moisture content and pH, respectively, indicating desiccation was the dominant process in UDDT. Bulking materials significantly impacted compost characteristics in terms of pH, carbon, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and carbon stability (P < 0.05). Composts with ash exhibited, on average, low carbon concentrations (4.9%) and high pH values (9.7), which can be harmful to plants and composting microorganisms. Composts with sawdust exhibited, on average, high carbon concentrations (40.0%) and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (31.0). Climate had no significant impact on chemical characteristics, however composts from humid regions had significantly higher moisture contents (34.4%) than those from arid climates (24.8%) (P < 0.05). Viable Ascaris lumbricoides ova were identified in 31% of samples, including samples with high pH, low moisture contents, and long storage times.

Optimizing the solar water disinfection (SODIS) method by decreasing turbidity with NaCl
Brittney Dawney and Joshua M. Pearce………. 87–94
ABSTRACT
Solar water disinfection (SODIS) has proven to be effective at reducing diarrheal incidence in epidemiological intervention studies. However, the SODIS method is limited to waters of low turbidity (<30 NTU). This study investigates the use of common table salt (NaCl) to reduce the turbidity of water containing suspended colloidal clay particles for use in the SODIS method. Three representative clays found in tropical soils (kaolinite, illite and bentonite) were tested at three levels of turbidity (50, 100 and 200 NTU) for their flocculating behavior with multiple NaCl concentrations to find the optimum. Supernatants were tested for sodium concentration for comparison against health and taste thresholds. Results show that unlike kaolinite and illite, pure bentonite solutions were shown to be very responsive to NaCl and produced supernatants with as low as 4 NTU (98% particle removal efficiency). This study has shown that NaCl, in combination with high-activity clay particles in solution, may effectively reduce turbidity to levels suitable for SODIS treatment, thereby expanding the number of people who can utilize the technology effectively.

Applying the Household-Centered Environmental Sanitation planning approach: a case study from Nepal
Mingma Gyalzen Sherpa, Christoph Lüthi and Thammarat Koottatep………. 124–132
ABSTRACT
The Household-Centered Environmental Sanitation (HCES) planning approach was tested for the first time in Nepal in a peri-urban setting during 2009/2011, in order to validate the novel planning approach, identify challenges and improve the process. The participatory multi-stakeholder process involved household mapping and surveys, user needs identification and prioritization and a stakeholder assessment. Following an expert’s assessment of potential sanitation options, community sensitization campaigns through exposure visits, a sanitation bazaar and focused community interactions were conducted. Among the three sanitation alternatives, users showed strong preference to set up a simplified sewerage system with a decentralized wastewater treatment. The paper critically discusses the key challenges faced when developing environmental sanitation plans. Setting the right balance between empowering people to take informed decisions and keeping the participation process intact until the final stage was a major challenge. Although participatory planning is time consuming, it is worth investing as it builds local ownership and assists in informed decision-making processes for selecting affordable sanitation options that best meet user’s needs.

WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY -WATER SUPPLY-
VOL 12; NUMB 4 (2012)
ISSN 1606-9749
• pp.439-450
Characterization and variations of dissolved organic matter in the Lake Taihu area of China
Qiu, Y.; Shi, H.; Jing, H.; Liu, R.; Cai, Q.; Takemura, M.; Haraguchi, S.
• pp.451-462
Non-revenue water: financial model for optimal management in developing countries – application in Aqaba, Jordan
Wyatt, A.; Alshafey, M.
• pp.480-488
Raw water treatment using bentonite-chitosan as a coagulant
Syafalni, S.; Abustan, I.; Zakaria, S.N.F.; Zawawi, M.H.; Rahim, R.A.
• pp.504-512
Technical causes and impacts of intermittent water distribution
Klingel, P.
• pp.523-530
A study on the effects of intermittent water supply on the vulnerability of urban water distribution networks
Christodoulou, S.; Agathokleous, A.
• pp.540-548
Stakeholder participation and capacity development during the implementation of rainwater harvesting pilot plants in central northern Namibia
Zimmermann, M.; Jokisch, A.; Deffner, J.; Brenda, M.; Urban, W.

JOURNAL OF WATER LAW : INSTITUTIONAL TRANSITIONS AND WATER LAW GOVERNANCE
VOL 22; ISSU 2 (2011)
ISSN 1478-5277
• pp.124-132
Kenya’s Water Act: opportunities for integration of customary institutions of water governance through water resources users associations and water service providers
Gachenga, E.

WATER POLICY
VOL 14; NUMB 4 (2012)
ISSN 1366-7017
• pp.594-612
Do investments in water management research pay? An analysis of water management research in India
Palanisami, K.; Kakumanu, K.R.; Kumar, D.S.; Challamuthu, S.; Chandrasekaran, B.; Ranganathan, C.R.;
• pp.613-624
Analyzing sanitation characteristics in the urban slums of East Africa
Szanto, G.L.; Letema, S.C.; Tukahirwa, J.T.; Mgana, S.; Oosterveer, P.J.M.; van Buuren, J.C.L.
• pp.668-679
Determinants of bottled and purified water consumption: results based on an OECD survey
Johnstone, N.; Serret, Y.