Sewerage and sewage treatment - Updated manuals on engineering, operation and maintenance and management by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation, Ministry of Urban Development (2012)

These manuals are prepared by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), a department under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). These manuals aim at meeting the professional needs of practising engineers dealing with the sanitation sector in the country that focuses on achieving the goal of 'sanitation for all' within a reasonable timeframe.

Part A

Engineering

The large quantity of sewage when remains unattended have severe impact on peoples’ health and on environment. The manual the goes on to elaborate on the different aspects in the management of sewage such as overburdening of the existing system, the institutional , technological, financial aspects of the urban local bodies.

The present scenario of urban sanitation, the consequences of poor sanitation condition on economy, the various initiatives taken by the government to address the problem, the emerging trends and technologies of sewerage and sewage treatment are some of the other aspects covered under this section.

The manual provides detailed guidelines for practising engineers and includes the following chapters:

• Planning
• Design and construction of sewers
• Design and construction of sewage pumping stations and sewage pumping mains
• Design and construction of sewage treatment facilities
• Design and construction of sludge treatment facilities
• Recycling and reuse of sewage
• Decentralised sewerage system
• On-site sanitation
• Preparation of city sanitation plan

Part C

Management

The manual in the introductory chapter sheds light on the need to look into the management aspects of the sewerage system. While Part A and Part B of the manual specifically deals with the engineering and operation& management aspects, Part C derives its points of discussion from its A and B. So intertwined these issues are the managerial issues govern three way approaches which are discussed in the following chapters of the manual:

• Legal framework and policies- It covers articles, constitutional amendments, acts, designated best-use, general standards, discharge standards, notifications and policies relevant to the sewerage sector within which the management functions are to be optimized.
• Institutional aspects and capacity building- It covers details about organizationalsetup and administration of sewerage services at the central, state and ULB levels, need for capacity building and various kinds of training programmes for personnel, responsibilities of managerial staff.
• Financing and financial management- It provides possible options to identify the ways and means of achieving total sewerage sanitation by a judicious blend of location specific technologies and managing finances diligently by devising newer models of project delivery mechanisms, and touches briefly on sources of funding, revenue and expenditure, and technical and financial appraisals.
• Budget estimates for operation and maintenance- It covers the need and how to make budget estimates, various components of O&M costs, cost recovery.
• Public private partnership which is being promoted as a mechanism for generating funds and increasing efficiency in public services through cooperation with the private sector, covering needs, advantages, challenges and issues, success stories, potential PPP models, stakeholders.
• Community awareness and participation describes the need for community awareness and participation for sewage collection and treatment systems maintained by the local body, and also cover various aspects that need to be considered to improve the community awareness and participation by involving individuals or voluntary organizations, and government agencies.
• Asset management which is a systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets cost-effectively, covers the need for asset management for sewage treatment plant, pumping station, sewer and gives a model for Indian scenario. This is an area where true appreciation is needed especially as many assets are not utilized effectively and in fact even the records are not adequate specifically in “as constructed” drawings.
• Management information system which is a formal system of making available to the management accurate, timely, sufficient, and relevant information to facilitate the decision making process, covers topics such as need for MIS at the central, state and ULB levels, MIS in sewerage system, management indicators and applications of MIS, and use of MIS for enhancing efficiency
• Potential disasters in sewerage and management which covers the various disasters that can affect a sewerage system, plans and measures to prevent and mitigate such disasters if they occur, and lessons learnt from them.

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