FAECAL SLUDGE LEH,

TREATMENT PLANT (FSTP) LADAKH

BEST PRACTICES
 01 Introduction
i. Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
ii. Policies for FSM in India
iii. Introduction – Leh FSTP
02 Problem
Table of contents
03 Public Private Partnership
04 Step by step functioning of FSTP
05 Specifications of FSTP
06 Notable Features
07 Analysis
08 Way Forward for FSM
09 Conclusion
 Introduction
● This plant was designed by BORDA and CDD Society, executed by Municipal Committee
of Leh (MCL) and Blue Water Company (BWC).
● Influx of tourists, modern habits and increasing popularity of flush toilets has led to
depletion and contamination of groundwater which is a major source for drinking
water for the city. Cities like Shimla have seen cholera outbreaks due to similar
pollution of the water bodies.
● A sewer system is under construction and in due course may only cover 40-50% of the
city which could be too little, too late. The plant was built to tackle prevailing FS mis-
management issue in Leh city.
● In May 2017, BORDA conceptualized a FSM system for the city that can complete the
sewerage system that is under development.
Turn-key PPP model: A public private partnership model was adopted to make the FSTP in
Leh with a five-year contract between Leh Municipal Committee (LMC), BORDA, CDD
Society and Blue Water Company (BWC).
 Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)

If sanitation is to be managed safely, it FSM is central to achieving the Feacal Sludge

is important to go beyond the toilet vision of an ‘Open Defecation Free’ Management is critical for
and examine containment, emptying, India. Efforts focus on large and Safe Sanitation.
transport, treatment and reuse or dense villages and census towns.
disposal of faecal waste.
 Policies for FSM in India
AMRUT Ministry of Finance, Govt.
of India
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Funds are transferred directly
Transformation (AMRUT) is rejuvenating from the Ministry of Finance to
500 cities with respect to water supply, gram panchayats for works
waste management, urban transport related to sanitation, solid and
and development of green spaces and liquid waste management
parks (SLWM),
Swach Bharat Mission(G)
SLWM is funded under SBM(G) – all
gram panchayats can take up funds,
with financial assistance capped on the
basis of the number of households, to
enable them to implement sustainable
SLWM projects
 Introduction
Leh FSTP
▪ Altitude- 12000 feet
▪ Population- 45000
▪ Area of site- 0.15 acres
▪ Design capacity: 12 meter cube/day
▪ Sludge loading rate: 100 kgTS/sqm/Yr
▪ Effluent quality: BOD < 30 mg/l
▪ Inlet - Faecal sludge
▪ Outlet/end products- Treated water + manure
▪ Operational since- 2017
▪ Cost of the plant- USD 81,744
▪ Need- Poor design of septic tanks leading to
groundwater contamination causing serious
health- issues
▪ Challenges- High altitude and extreme climate
conditions (minimum tempeture of -30⁰C)
▪ Construction Period- 7 weeks
▪ Aim- To make Leh the first ODF++ city in India
 Problem
While Public funds can be identified, it takes time to allocate
budgets, government tendering process delay
implementation and work against the urgency of the
situatiom at hand.
Therefore BORDA invited BWC to set up India’s first PPP in
FSM on DFBO system and therefore solve the above problem
in a sustainable and financially profitable way.
 Public Private Partnership
Municipal Committee of Leh
(MCL)
➢ Will provide land for FSTP
➢ Will provide 2 suction tructs for
cleaning services
➢ Will charge and collect a fee from
every house for compulsory FSM
services
➢ Will send customers a notice of
cleaning 20 days in advance
Blue Water Company
(BWC)
➢ Will invest Capital to construct FSTP
➢ Will create a monthly schedule and
clean septic tanks
➢ Will be paid a part of the fees collected
from customers, after septic tank is
cleaned
➢ Will train all employees and ensure all
safety standards
➢ Will develop a plant nursery where
treated water will be used for
greenification projects
 Step by Step Functioning of FSTP

Planted Drying Bed - Horizontal Planted Gravel Polishing Pond –

10 units Filter (HPGF) - 2 units 1 unit
Solid-liquid seperation and digestion Treat liquid fraction using plants Ultraviolet disinfection of water and
of solid fraction and controlled flow storage
Area- 48 sqm./bed Area- 60 sqm/unit Area- 24 sqm
Volume- 12 meter cube/ day/ bed Plants used- Phragmites karka, Filter material used- Graded Gravel,
Canna indica 1 Sand
Specifications of FSTP
▪ Raw FS is emptied from the tanker into the screening
chamber to remove any grit and debris. FS from the
chamber enters into the respective planted drying bed.
▪ Each day, only a single bed of PDB is filled with FS and
allowed to dry.
▪ Post solid-liquid separation and digestion of solid fraction
at PDB, the leachate (which has percolated from the drying
beds) flows under gravity to HPGF for further treatment.
▪ Once the sludge accumulates to a height of around 0.9 m in
the PDB (in 3 – 4 years), it is removed and can be used as an
organic soil conditioner.
▪ The treated leachate from the HPGF is stored at a PP where
it is further digested and disinfected using direct sunlight.
▪ A plant nursery has been proposed to be developed on-site
where the treated leachate and FS will be used to grow
plants and make Leh greener.
 Notable Features

SPEED IN ACCOUNTABILITY AND

NO COST TO GOVT.
IMPLEMENTATION SIMPLICITY
The FSM system ULB has invested no The process is not complicated
became operational money and pay only after and BWC accountable for
just after three months services delivered failures.

NEW TECHNOLOGY RESPECT FOR

PDB Technology for first time
in India, DEWATS module
used to treat water at low
cost with simple operations
CAPACITY TO INCREASE
OPERATORS
FSTP will provide a comfortable Building more PDB will
office and rest area to provide a increase capacity by
positive work environment. two times in just four
weeks
Planted drying bed (PDB) technology
used in India for the first time—robust
and flexible for extreme conditions.
Analysis
Gravity-based system, based on natural
and biological treatment with no use of
chemicals or electricity—a green and
eco-friendly system.
No direct human contact with faecal sludge.
Minimal odour during entire process and
aesthetically designed to locate it near
habitation.
Minimal and simple operations with no
skilled operator required, minimizing
operations & maintenance (O&M) costs.
Greening of Leh: A nursery will be set up and
operated using the treated wastewater and
sludge.
Product Demo

Insert your multimedia content here

 Conclusion
The FSTP was designed and built in a record
44 days as a result of close cooperation
between the municipality, BORDA, CDD
Society and Blue Water Company. The
current capacity of the FSTP is to treat
12,000 litres of faecal sludge per day. The
Leh FSTP shows how sustainable
interventions can be applied at a lower cost
for efficient management of faecal sludge,
even in the most challenging environmental
and physical conditions.
Thank you
CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo,
including icons by Flaticon, infographics & images by Freepik