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Chapter 8: Issues in Operation and Maintenance: Lessons Learned

Updated - Wednesday 19 November 2003

General lessons learned

Low-cost sanitation systems do offer a viable and satisfactory long term alternative for the safe disposal of human excreta in urban low-income areas provided that requirements for operation and maintenance are taken into account from the start. Operation and maintenance of low-cost sanitation systems is not an issue that only comes up when there are problems with the functioning or use of the installed systems, or when pits or tanks have to be emptied. Neither is it only a private concern of the individual households. Rather, proper operation and maintenance depends on integrating its requirements in planning, design, implementation, organization and management in partnership between government, private agencies and residents. This is the main conclusion from the research on operation and maintenance of sanitation systems in urban low-income areas in India and Thailand.

A second important conclusion is that the best solutions to meet requirements for operation and maintenance are always local specific. A legal framework and general guidelines are important pre-conditions as are municipal laws and regulations, standardized procedures and technical designs. However, actual decisions on the most suitable type(s) of sanitation systems and organization and management of operation and maintenance should always be based on the local conditions, both with respect to technical and socio-economic feasibility and to users preferences and capabilities.

A third major conclusion is that successful operation and maintenance is dependent on the one hand on sound organization and a clear division of responsibilities, and on the other hand on the knowledge, skills and motivation of both agency staff and residents. Operation and maintenance require a number of routine activities and a number of control actions to guarantee the safe disposal of human excreta. How responsibilities are best divided between government agencies, non-government organizations, private enterprises and residents is an issue requiring due consideration and agreement. Creating conditions in which the responsibilities can be implemented as intended requires awareness raising, training and incentives.

The need for a separate budget for operation and maintenance is the last major conclusion. This budget not only has to cover regular operation and maintenance, but should also allow for replacement and rehabilitation. Because this will only become necessary after a certain period, the budget needs to increase over time. A budget separate from other budgets is necessary to avoid diversion of funds for operation and maintenance for other purposes in a situation where municipalities are perpetually short of funds.

These conclusions may not be very striking as such. Others have pointed at one or more of these conclusions before, and they do not only apply to sanitation, but also to other infrastructural services such as water supply and solid waste collection and disposal. Rather, the striking thing is that the research shows how difficult it is to apply available knowledge, especially on a large scale and it indicates that major efforts should be directed to put into practice what is known, to make it actually happen.

Planning

Successful long term operation and maintenance starts with proper planning. Proper planning starts with a realistic assessment of the desired sanitation situation in an urban low-income area and the resulting operation and maintenance tasks and resources required. Thus it will be asking for problems, not to involve the parties responsible for operation and maintenance in this important phase.

The residents are always one important party to be involved. They are in the best position to indicate what are the preferred types and sites of latrines, what costs they are able and willing to bear and what tasks they can fulfil. Likewise it will be necessary to involve the agency or agencies carrying operation and maintenance responsibilities. Available manpower, skills, and equipment for operation and maintenance have to be taken into account, as have the funds required to cover the recurrent costs. If one or more resources are not sufficiently available, appropriate measures have to be taken to address identified constraints in time, or technical solutions have to be selected on the basis of resources available.

From the point of view of successful operation and maintenance the findings seem to indicate that the agencies and people responsible for operation and maintenance should be the same as the agencies and people responsible for planning and implementation. This to avoid decisions based on investment costs only, and to increase commitment and accountability. However, this may not always be realistic in view of the wider tasks and responsibilities of government agencies. In any case, those responsible for operation and maintenance have to be involved in the process of planning and implementation to ensure adaptation to local conditions and a sense of responsibility towards the system.

Technical design and costs

Standardization of technical designs has many advantages. It saves costs, it facilitates planning and training in latrine construction, it promotes quality standards of construction and it makes inspections and public health control easier.

But advantages of standardized designs will turn in disasters when they are not checked against and accordingly adapted to the local environment, the socio-economic conditions and the preferences of the residents. The adverse effects of using an unchecked standardized design are clearly shown by the findings of the research in India, where in some towns the sanitation systems cannot function because of impermeability of the soil or high groundwater tables. The problems are also clear from Thailand where the residents' acceptance of the septic tank with anaerobic upflow filter is low because the filter needs regular cleaning. Thus, involvement of local level authorities or institutions in planning and design is necessary, for which training and awareness raising is needed at that level.

To increase cost-effectiveness, it is not only important to check and, if necessary, adapt standardized designs both at neighbourhood and at household level, but also to look into possibilities to use locally available materials for the substructure and superstructure as this tends to lower the total costs.

More applied research is needed to experiment with technical designs. In Thailand, where nearly all households have a latrine, the main issue is how to prevent environmental pollution. This holds true especially for the slum areas with permanently standing water, but also concerns for example the septic tank with the poor functioning anaerobic upflow filter. In India, where large parts of the urban low-income population do not have access to a latrine, finding lower cost options is an important area of investigation. The research finding that in many areas it takes many years before one of the pits of the double pit system is full, indicates that experiments are needed with smaller pits to save costs. Also, more attention should be given to short term and intermediate solutions such as public latrines and shared latrines. However, none of these applied researches should be carried out without applying the main lesson learned that operation and maintenance requirements should be an integrated part from the very beginning and that all relevant parties - government, private and residents - should be actively involved.

Implementation

Quality of construction is a pre-condition for proper operation and maintenance, and for the safe disposal of human excreta. The research indicated that the quality of construction as such is not a major problem, but that there are two issues that require due attention.

The first issue is that construction has to meet design standards. If this is not the case, problems will arise in operation and maintenance, for instance with junction boxes which are badly aligned or buried and waterseal pans requiring too much water or partly constructed septic tank systems. Some of these problems may be just practical or a cost factor, but others can be a direct threat to public health.

The second issue is the deliberate adaptations to make a sanitation system more convenient and/or cheaper with respect to operation and maintenance. These adaptations may be made at the time of construction, or afterwards, to alleviate problems with operation and maintenance. The research showed many such examples, like the holes made in the concrete rings to increase the leaching capacity of the pits in high water table areas in Thailand, the bypassing of the anaerobic upflow filter, the opening up at the same time of the two pits of the double pit system. The net result is that these systems do not provide for the safe disposal of human excreta, and thus do not meet their purpose in the first place. Rather, these wrongly adapted systems contribute to public health risks and environmental pollution.

Division of operation and maintenance responsibilities

Already in the planning phase, it is necessary to consider and take decisions about the division of operation and maintenance tasks and responsibilities between the local government, the residents and possible non-government organizations and private enterprises. The best strategy for the division of responsibility is local specific, but there are a few generalizations to make. Occasionally, the strategy will need evaluation to assess its cost-effectiveness and to decide on changes and improvements as appropriate.

The responsibility for operation and maintenance at household level of private latrines always rests with the household. The municipal authorities always have at least a control and a support role to play. Within this general framework there are many options for cost-effective operation and maintenance. In India, effective use was made of Non-Government Organizations but their involvement so far has been more directed to community based planning and implementation than to long term operation and maintenance. Both in India and Thailand the role of the local government in operation and maintenance seems to be defective at best, non-existent at worst. This is not to imply that the local government could not play an effective role, but that a number of measures have to be taken, both with respect to training and motivation and to organization and management (see below). The research also indicates that there is ample scope to involve the private sector.

Involvement of the private sector has great potential for better construction and operation and maintenance services provided the municipal authorities take their control and support role seriously to ensure that standards are kept and public health is served.
For example, involvement of local masons in India would have various advantages. It ensures that the technology is locally known and thus facilitates both additional latrine construction beyond official sanitation schemes and easily obtainable maintenance and repair services. Moreover, a local mason is known in the community which reduces the change of sub-standard construction. In some of the research sites in Thailand, the private desludging companies offer a good example of the advantage of private sector involvement. Not only do they provide timely services, but the local authorities even earn on the concessions, while they still have control over fees and dumping sites. The experience with private desludging services in both India and Thailand show the importance of dumping control.

Awareness raising, training and motivation
To carry out operation and maintenance responsibilities well and in time much more attention needs to be given to awareness raising, training and motivation. Government staff, private sector workers and the general public all require to have a basic awareness of the importance of safe excreta disposal. And, dependent on their further responsibilities, they need to have a sufficient understanding of the technical and health aspects of the various sanitation systems. For example, households need to understand how their double-pit latrine functions and why it should function in a certain way. The research findings indicate, that this understanding is often lacking and that this can result in deficient operation and maintenance. Also, examples in India and Thailand show that technical staff may give ill advice to solve sanitation problems due to a lack of knowledge. In addition, both technical skills and motivation are required to do a good job and training and incentives should provide for this. Both the local government and non-government organizations have a role to play in awareness raising, training and motivation to arrive at satisfactory operation and maintenance performance.

Operation and management

Proper operation and maintenance requires a clear organization and financial management. The research shows that this is an area for improvement, especially for the responsible municipal agency, and should be based on earlier decisions with respect to the best division of responsibilities (see above under the headings planning and division of operation and maintenance responsibilities). The various types, timing and frequencies of routine operation, maintenance and control activities have to be determined, job descriptions have to be made and tasks assigned, and implementation schedules have to be prepared and strictly followed. Monitoring and supervision is also required for good performance and timely adaptations.

Neglecting clear organization and management easily lead to dramatic results. Obvious examples are the closing down of public latrines and the abandonment of private latrines in India because no provisions are made for maintenance, desludging and repairs. In Thailand, due to deterioration of the sewers, only a fraction of the total volume of sewerage is reaching the treatment plant, which in turn cannot function properly with such a low inflow.

Proper management of operation and maintenance is only possible when there is a budget to carry out the necessary tasks. However, the research findings indicate that this is a major weak point. The municipal budget, which is usually already limited, often does not earmark funds specifically for operation and maintenance of sanitation systems, and thus funds may be easily spent on other activities which are politically more visible and financially more attractive. The need for regular maintenance and upkeep is not always recognized if the effects of lack of maintenance are not immediately visible. Apart from the need for a separate budget for routine operation and maintenance of sanitation systems, it is necessary that the budget allows for major replacements, upgrading and extensions. This budget should to a large extent be generated from the users of municipal infrastructure services.

Coordination between agencies

Successful operation and maintenance often requires coordination between different agencies. In the two countries, the sanitation systems require water, hence the operation and maintenance of the systems is usually very dependent on the functioning of the water supply. Yet, lack of water is a problem in a number of towns in India, affecting the performance of the sanitation systems. Similarly in both countries, the health departments are responsible for awareness raising to create a demand for improved sanitation and to help reduce environmental health risks. However, their actual involvement is largely lacking, although their importance is recognized. In one of the towns in India. where awareness raising and sanitation improvements were integrated, remarkable results were achieved.

Laws and regulations

Sanitation laws and regulations are necessary to provide an umbrella for proper operation and maintenance. In both countries such laws exist, but even if they apply to sanitation systems at household level, they are very difficult to enforce without a proper organizational set-up.

Increasing coverage and use

Although not exactly the focus of this research, the low coverage level and use of sanitation systems in urban low-income areas in India, as in many other parts of the world, justify to make some observations.

The research indicates that promoting a demand for sanitary latrines is a major precondition to reach a sustainable higher sanitation coverage. Awareness raising and joint decision making by government agencies and residents on locally best solutions are instrumental to this. Loans and grants may help to accelerate coverage, but only when embedded in a total approach based on motivation and participation in which also a properly organized cost recovery structure and a down payment to establish commitment and accountability should be included. If not, the money may easily go to people who can afford to construct a latrine by themselves, or result in latrines that are not used. It may also lead to non-repayment of loans due to lack of interest by municipal authorities and residents alike. The experience in India makes this clear. The experience in India also shows, what positive results can be achieved when hands are joined and motivation is high.