INDIA SANITATION PRIMER

There are 7 key types of waste

Residential Waste

Industrial Waste

Municipal Solid Waste refers to any solid

waste that is disposed off by individuals,
households, small businesses or
institutions.

Non-municipal Solid Waste

refers to solid waste material
that is disposed off in the largescale production of a product.

Eg. Food, packaging material, paper,

electronic items, metals, stationery, rags
etc.

Municipal Sewage refers to water-carried

waste from individuals, households, small
businesses or institutions. It typically
consists of body wastes (feces, urine),
washing and laundry water, food
preparation waste and commercial wastes
from small establishments

Fecal sludge refers to fecal waste

generated from on-site sanitation, i.e.
feces that has not been transported
through a sewer

Eg. Paper and pulp wastes, fly

ash, oil sludge, synthetic fibres
etc.

Industrial wastewater refers

to water-mixed industrial wastes
that are generated in largescale production activities.
Eg. Waste oil and oil emulsions,
dyes, slurries and spent washes
etc.

Other Waste

Biomedical waste
(generated typically
from health
establishments) eg.
Surgical equipment,
medicines, reagents etc.

Biomass waste eg.

crop debris, livestock
waste, bulk forest
wastes etc.

Estimated quantities of different

types of waste produced in India
Type of waste
Municipal solid waste
Municipal sewage

Annual
quantity

Source

~70 MT per year

http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2012/01/w
aste-to-energy-for-integrated-waste-management-in-india.
html
https://www.idfc.com/pdf/report/2011/Chp-20-Municipal-Was

38,254 ML per
day1

tewater-Management-In-India.pdf)

Fecal sludge

~44 MT per year

http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/wte/typ/clas/fecal_sludge.html

Non-municipal solid
waste

108 MT per year

http://ebtc.eu/pdf/111031_SNA_Snapshot_Waste-management-in-Ind
ia.pdf

Industrial wastewater

22,550 ML per
day

https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant
&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=industrial+wastewater+quantit
y+india

Biomass waste

350 MT per year

http://dspace.library.iitb.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10054%2F164
9/1/5691.pdf

Biomedical waste

1.1 MT per year

http://medind.nic.in/jab/t01/i4/jabt01i4p276.pdf

1. In Class I and Class II Indian towns (pop >50,000), covering ~70% of Indias urban population

Diagrams explaining fecal sludge

management cycle (I)

Diagrams explaining fecal sludge

management cycle (II)

Health hazards created by fecal

sludge
Fecal sludge contains disease causing pathogens. If not contained through a proper
management process, humans can come into contact with it in several ways:
Direct contact
Sludge mixing with surface water, and humans consuming that water or water products
(eg. Fish, vegetables washed in the water etc.)
This causes intestinal disease and infection which are among the main sources of diseaserelated fatalities in India (?)
Currently, the government focus is more on building sewerage lines and therefore fecal
sludge is not part of any countrys policy. It is seen as a stop gap solution and therefore
very few governments are willing to invest in it

The key problem: fecal sludge

leaks into environment (I)
1. ~50% of India defecates in the open (~67% of rural households and ~13% of
urban households). So the first step is moving these households that
defecate in the open to some form of latrine usage
2. The diagram on slide 4 explains the other sources of leakage of fecal sludge into
environment:

Of the households that do not practice open defecation, most households arent connected to sewer
lines and use on-site sanitation systems like septic tanks. However a majority of septic tanks are
abandoned or left to overflow i.e. are not emptied safely

Of the tanks that ARE emptied regularly, they may not be emptied safely i.e. theres leakage while
emptying or transporting

Of the tanks that ARE emptied safely, they are usually illegally dumped

Of the households that ARE connected to sewer lines, theres either leakage in the sewer lines, or the
sewage is not effectively treated, in both cases fecal sludge in some form enters the environment

The key problem: fecal sludge

leaks into environment (II)
As per Census 2011:
Total households

100%

Households defecating in the open

50%

Households defecating into unsanitary

latrines

8%

Households defecating into some

form of latrines

42%

Of these, households connected to

piped sewer system

12%

Households connected to septic tanks

22%

Households that have pits with slabs

8%

Therefore the key

problems/challenges are as
follows:
Ending or reducing open defecation
Improving quality of on-site sanitation tech and the associated
sanitation chain i.e. emptying, transport and treatment
In the longer run, connecting all houses to centralized sewerage
treatment and ensuring adequate capacity of STPs