Sludge emptying, transport, treatment : can Vacutug solve the downstream sanitation problems of Dhaka? Case study for Bangladesh sanitation workshop, January 2007

With increasing rapid growth, Dhaka city may reach up to 25 million people by 2025. The slum population is growing massively as do 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, transport and treatment of faecal sludge from latrines. A mobile machine to do this, known as Vacutug, was introduced by DSK [Dushtha Shasthya Kendra] in 2001 and a second, larger, machine followed in 200X [2003?]. In this paper, the operational, financial and management issues surrounding Vacutug are introduced. Its success is highlighted and key questions posed for its future use and its possible contribution to one of Dhaka’s most urgent questions.The objective of this paper is to illustrate the current status of the emptying, transport, treatment chain in Dhaka – essentially, what contribution can Vacutug make to solving one of the most pressing problems associated with sanitation in Dhaka? [author abstract]