Context

When you flush your toilet, where does it go? Wastewater from 30%[1] urban homes is whisked away by sewer network which could be either connected to a treatment plant or discharging untreated wastewater. Sludge from septic tank owners – 70% urban homes – is dumped randomly into nearby water bodies or marginal lands without any treatment with severe public health and environmental consequences. Safe water and sanitation services are accorded as a fundamental human right in the Constitution of Nepal (2015).  While the country was declared ODF in Sept 2019, safely managed sanitation services are dismally poor due to lack of political will, inadequate programme and investment priorities, weak capacity and design standards, and non-existence regulation.

Located in southern periphery of Kathmandu Valley, Mahalaxmi Municipality is one of the most rapidly urbanizing Municipalities^[2] in Nepal with 28,000 households. Two-third population still rely on on-site sanitation services as only core areas are sewered, constructed by the federal Government (see map on the right where red depicts on-site sanitation). House owners call upon informal desludging services only when their septic tanks begin to overflow.

Given that Municipality was declared ODF in 2017, additional sewered network expansion has not been programmed for immediate future, and that non-sewered areas are somewhat scattered, Municipal authorities realized importance of non-sewered sanitation solutions for ensuring “no one is left behind.” As a key strategy to realizing its vision of a “clean, hygienic, prosperous city”, the Municipality is testing ISO 24521 guidelines, using the City Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) Service Framework, for safely managed on-site sanitation services in partnership with Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB), National Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM), BMGF, GGGI and ENPHO.

Integration of ISO 24521 Guidelines with CWIS Service Framework

What is ISO 24521 Guidelines?

This International Standard provides guidance for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services. It includes:

• Guidelines for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services from the operator’s perspective, including maintenance techniques, training of personnel and risk considerations;
• Guidelines for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services from the perspective of users;
• Guidance on the design and construction of basic on-site domestic wastewater systems; and
• Guidance on planning, operation and maintenance, and health and safety issues

CWIS – The Enabling Framework

CWIS is characterized by seven fundamental principles[3] as: 1. Everyone is an urban area, including the urban poor, benefits from equitable, safe sanitation services, 2. Gender and social equity are designed into planning, management and monitoring, 3. Human waste is safely managed along sanitation service chain, starting with containment, 4. Authorities operate with a clear, inclusive mandate, along with performance targets, resources, and accountability, 5. Authorities deploy a range of funding, business, and hardware approaches – sewered and non-sewered, to meet goals, 6. Comprehensive long-term planning fosters demand for innovation and is informed by analysis and needs/resources, 7. Political will and accountability systems incentivize service improvements in planning, capacity and leadership.

CWIS Service Framework capturing a simplified set of core outcomes and functions of a public service delivery system for sanitation, as applied in Mahalaxmi, is presented below.

Demonstrating Integration of ISO 24521 into FSM By-laws for CWIS Services

 Results

The key results, during 18 months of project implementation, include:

Approved ISO 24521 Guidelines: The issue of NS-ISO 24521 guidelines by the NBSM lends credibility and recognition to the Project work being piloted in Mahalaxmi Municipality which, in turn, provides legitimacy for scaling up.

Municipal Leadership: Since the ODF declaration in 2017, the Mayor has been demonstrating steadfast commitment recognizing the urgency for addressing unregulated septage practices in Mahalaxmi.  Informed by GIS-based Sanitation Situation Assessment, the development of City-Wide Inclusion Sanitation Plan coupled with learning and advocacy has contributed to policy reforms.

Dedicated Sanitation Cell: Operationalization of sanitation services is spearheaded by a fully empowered Sanitation Cell overseeing the planning, management, and regulation of FSM. The strategic collaboration framework signed between Municipality, Global Green Growth, and ENPHO is aimed at strengthening partnerships to contribute to the realization of safely managed sanitation services.

FSM By-laws: This is the first time in Nepal that a specific By-laws^[4] on FSM (2020) has been enacted by Mahalaxmi Municipality. With clear provisions for regulating the entire sanitation chain, safe management of containment, transport, treatment, and end-use can be revolutionized in the coming months.  The unique features of FSM By-laws include:

       “The construction of tanks has been made mandatory in all new house design permits.” Mr. Rameshwor Shrestha, Mayor, Mahalaxmi Municipality

(a) scheduled desludging of septic tanks once in three years especially in new houses, and as a precondition during sale and buying of properties and in the vulnerable areas with inherent risks to nearby water wells (b) occupational health and safety (c) prohibited acts and penalty for non-compliance and (d) CWIS principles.  It will require unrelenting “political will” and public awareness and support, but the solid foundation has already been laid in the Municipality.

Containment Improvement: Municipality has adopted a two-pronged strategy as follows:

Service and Business Model: Based on the PPP model, Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) plans to issue a bid by mid-Sept 2020 for soliciting contractors for USD 417,000-FSTP construction, jointly financed by the Board and Municipality at 80:20. It is expected that construction will be completed by Dec 2021, after which the commissioning phase will commence. Two licensed operators will be engaged in scheduled desludging and transportation services.

 Public-Private Partnership

Demonstration for Scaling Up

The effective application of ISO 24521 guidelines, coupled with FSM By-laws as a regulatory instrument, for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services in Mahalaxmi Municipality not only has garnered public support but also its explicit linkage with CWIS service framework has gained interest from other Municipalities as well.

Going forward, there is clear merit for the Project to use this proven model as a knowledge demonstration catalyst to train, educate and influence other Municipalities and thereby help them emulate and improve policy and practices in their respective areas in partnership with the Municipality Association of Nepal.

As Nepal experiences rapid urbanization, scaling up of this model is the key to contribute to Nepal realize its SDG6.2 target of safely managed sanitation services to 90% (2030) from 30% (2015).

Sept 2020
Rosy Singh, Bhawana Sharma, and Sanjaya Adhikary

Acknowledgment
Rameshwor Shrestha, Mayor; Prashant Singh Thapa, and Lav Kumar Gupta, Mahalaxmi Municipality
Dr. Sanjeev Bickram Rana, Executive Director; Nabin Tiwari, and Tripti Kharel, Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board
Ganesh Pathak (ret), and Indu Joshi, ex-official, NBSM
Dr. Roshan Shrestha, and Sun Kim, BMGF
Rajendra Shrestha, ENPHO and Bipin Dangol (c)
Suman Sharma, Rajiv Joshi, Krishnaram Yendyo, Dr. Mingma Sherpa, and Dr. Bhushan Shrestha, TA Team
Rowan Fraser, and Luna Kansakar, GGGI
[1] Central Bureau of Statistics, 2011
[2] On any working day, the Municipality issues design permits to 5 new houses for construction
[3] Citywide Inclusive Sanitation: A Public Service Approach for Reaching the Urban Sanitation SDGs, Frontiers in Environment Science, Alyse Schrecongost et.al., 2020
[4] http://mahalaxmimun.gov.np/en/act-law-directives

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