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Modeling on environmental-economic effectiveness of Vacutug technology of fecal sludge management at Dhaka city in Bangladesh

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Abstract

Fecal sludge management is an emerging issue in urban sanitation. Access to sewage network is limited in Dhaka; therefore people construct septic tanks and different forms of unhygienic latrines to fulfill their basic sanitary needs. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Vacutug pit latrine exhausting technology considering the perspectives of the technical experts, operators and consumers. With increasing rapid growth, Dhaka city may reach up to 25 million people by 2025. The slum population is growing massively and with it sanitation problems. A major problem is one of sanitation facilities, especially for the urban poor but a further and equally pressing one is that of the emptying, transportation and treatment of fecal sludge from latrines. In this paper, the operational, financial and management issues surrounding Vacutug are introduced. The research focused on the experiences from three initiatives (Mirpur, Mohammadpur and Kuril in Dhaka) to gain a greater insight into key features of straight awareness related to participatory planning and community involvement in decision-making, decentralized management arrangements for operation and maintenance, application and operation of decentralized technologies; Financing arrangements and economics of decentralized initiatives.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank DSK for their support to collect field level data about the Vacutug technology. The authors are also grateful to Matt for their support in providing technical details of the technology. The authors would like to thank Asif Ibne Yousuf for his valuable comments on the preliminary draft version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences and Management, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Md. Jakariya & Asmaul Housna

  2. Department of Geography and Environment, Jahnagirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

    Md. Nazrul Islam

  3. School of Health and Life Sciences, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    G. U. Ahsan

  4. Department of Irrigation and Water Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

    Khalid Mahmud

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  1. Md. Jakariya
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Correspondence to Md. Jakariya.

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Jakariya, M., Housna, A., Islam, M.N. et al. Modeling on environmental-economic effectiveness of Vacutug technology of fecal sludge management at Dhaka city in Bangladesh. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 4, 49–60 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-018-0418-0

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