Guidelines for decentralized wastewater management by Ministry of Urban Development (2012)

This guideline is prepared by the Centre of Excellence in the area of Decentralized Wastewater Management, in the Department of Civil Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, which comes under Ministry of Urban Development. It provides an insight into ways and means of planning and executing decentralized wastewater management systems (DWWM) by Urban Local Bodies.

DWWM treats wastewater of individual houses, apartment blocks or small communities close to their origin. This system is a combination of many technologies within a given geographical boundary, namely, onsite systems, low cost collection systems and dispersed siting of treatment facilities. It provides the decision makers with an essence on various aspects of decentralized wastewater management. It has several links to the appropriate chapters / sections of the manual to provide detailed information to engineers / consultants who may be engaged in planning, design, operation and maintenance.

The guideline provides details on the following aspects:

• Advantages and disadvantages of DWWMs
• Advantages and disadvantages of on-site wastewater treatment systems
• Situations suitable for DWWM
• Planning for DWWM
• Design period for DWWM
• Components of DWWM
• Wastewater collection system
• Characteristics of wastewater
• Selection on available technologies for DWWM
• On-site treatment systems
• Sludge management
• Operation and maintenance
• Reuse option of treated wastewater
• Regulations
• Operation and maintenance of DWWMS
• Other aspects- technical, financial, social, legal

Click below to download the guideline.