data sheets for ecosan projects

ecosan sector project - Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

ECOSAN SYSTEM APPLIED COMPONENTS
SOLID BIOWASTE COLLECTION Separation of organic waste 1. kitchen 2. garden 1. Kitchen: double chamber compost system 2. Garden waste and treated faeces (composted or dehydrated) in compost heaps FAECES URINE GREYWATER RAINWATER

Colegio Christoferus Lima/ Chorrillos, Peru

TREATMENT

Blackwater: 2 composting chamber systems for filtration and composting of the solids, treatment of the effluent in a constructed wetland/ vertical flow UDDT: Dehydration of the faeces UDDT: Storage of the urine

1. grease trap for kitchen and bakery, effluent with laundry effluent on constructed wetland/ vertical flow 2. UDDT: infiltration in a plant grown gravel filter 1. treated greywater for irrigation of gras and garden with vegetables and fruits 2. planted infiltration area

UTILISATION

Treated blackwater for irrigation Reuse of al composted material for soil improvement Recomposting of treated faeces with organic waste Reuse of urine (UDDT) as fertilizer for fruit trees

General Data

Type of Project: Urban upgrading / school for handicapped children/ 0,6 ha with garden, green areas, bakery, laundry, kitchen/ localized in a desert/ demonstration project Project Period: Start of planning: 04/2007 Start of construction: Grey- Blackwater treatment 07/2007, UDDT 5/2008 Start of operation: Greywater: 09/2007 Blackwater: 11/2007, UDDT: 5/2008 Project Scale: 53 Population equivalents Address: Avenida de los Faisanes No. 950, La Campia, Chorrillos, Lima, PERU Planning Institution: Rotria del Per Executing Institution: Centro Educativo Bsico Especial San Christoferus Supporting Agency: Private persons and Waldorf Schools of Switzerland

worlds driest areas, 1.5 mio inhabitants are supposed to use less than 20 L water per day. Only 9% of the collected wastewater receive a treatment, the rest is discharged untreated or used directly for agricultural irrigation, whereas green areas in the city center are irrigated with drinking water. The possibilities for safe reuse of treated wastewater are almost unkown and there are no water saving practices at all, the price for the public water is too low.

retained solids is recommended and in this case realized with a re-composting together with organic garden material.

Technologies applied

Double chamber compost filter for blackwater pre-treatment, removing of a compost bag

The school already had 6 separated buildings, centralised in two locations. Irrigation necessities favoured the decision for two independent treatment systems. For the laundry, bakery and kitchen a greywater system was introduced. The rest of the water (blackwater, already mixed with some greywater from 2 private kitchens, showers and washing basins of all bathrooms were treated separately. The greywaters pass the grease trap and are pumped in intervals (time regulated) on a vertical flow wetland.

The liquid phase of blackwater passes to the bottom of the chamber and it is pumped to a separate vertical flow constructed wetland.

Objective of the project

Vertical flow wetland, blackwater treatment after 6 month

1. Reduction of the water consumption (and the cost for water consumption). 2. Reduction of the dusty areas by creation of more extensive planted areas, which need irrigation and fertilization. 3. Demonstration of a closed loop system with total reuse of the water, nutrients and humus, adapted on the environment necessities of a populated dessert area and the technical possibilities in Lima.

The UDDT has two units (girls/boys) with ventilated double chambers for dehydration of faces and separate urine and greywater drain off, what allows the urine reuse, whereas greywater is infiltrated directly in a planted area.
Wetland, greywater treatment after 2 month with the irrigation tank for treated greywater

Location and general conditions

The Peruvian capital, Lima (8 Mio inhabitants) is situated in one of the

18/05/2008

The blackwater pass a well ventilated double chamber compost filter. The chambers are used alternatingly in intervals of 6 month; the solids are retained in a special filter bag, filled with straw, and composted mainly in the resting phase, when the other container is used. A secondary treatment for the
draft

UDDT, filter area already under construction Page 1/4

In Lima it never rains

Wastewater and organic waste management with total reuse

Inside: 12 active flush toilets for the class- and living rooms Outside (playground): 2 UDDT

Greywater collection: 1. school kitchen, laundry, bakery 2. hand washing, UDDT

data sheets for ecosan projects

ecosan sector project - Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

Type of reuse

Today the school has doubled the green areas but only the half of the former water consumption 1-2 m treated greywater per school day is reused for irrigation of the garden part 4-5m treated blackwater per school day is reused for irrigation of lawn, fruit trees and flowers

trees, flowers and herbs give the possibility to develop the senses. Obviously all teacher and children like to come together in the open air and to sit down on the lawn. The higher production of vegetables and fruits for sale helps to assure the income and to give scholarships for poor families with handicapped children. Furthermore it is an important and well closed demonstration project for environmental education purposes, what shows schools, teachers, students, public authorities, architects, engineers and private persons, that economization of water (until waterless sanitation) and reuse of treated wastewater and organic waste is possible with win and not a loss of life quality and hygienic security. Projects like this are important examples for the dry Peruvian cost. In fact only 15% of the total Peruvian area is a desert, but unfortunately already 60% of the population live there, 30% in Lima. All of them are affected by water limitation; especially the poorest people live with an extreme water stress situation. This project also will be demonstrated during a first university course about ecosan, which is sponsored by the GTZ.

known and the search for adequate materials, as the right sand or the lining for the wetland, filters bags for the composting filter or drain tubes were time intensive and sometimes exhausting. But already the first operation weeks for the greywater and later for blackwater treatment were a success. Everybody was impressed about the excellent treatment results and later surprised about the intensive plant development.

Former dusty areas, recently planted and now irrigated with treated blackwater

Drain tube on the ground of blackwater wetland during covering with gravel, the 0,5mm PVC liner (black) needed a special protection

Behind the fence; desert living areas in the direct neighbourhood of the school

Project History
Outlet of the blackwater compost filter (Pretreatment) and effluent of the wetland

All composted organic material from kitchen, garden and blackwater filter is reused for soil improvement.

The project for wastewater treatment was initiated by an international group of young volunteers. A part of the garden and the compost systems for organic garden waste and kitchen waste (system Alke, Lima) already was in use by the school and the experience with operation and reuse of organic material was helpful to convince the teacher.

Cultivation of vegetables and fruits with treated greywater and nutrients of compost

Also urine and dried faeces from the 2 UDDT units will be used for fertilization. The operation is organized by the gardener and housekeeper and by German volunteers, who work there for a year.
Kitchen waste: 40 cm diameter and 2 m deep chamber units, alternating operation of 6 -12 month (ALKE; Lima)

Wetland for greywater treatment during pumping (a day after plantation and before the protection of the distribution pipe with a 10 cm gravel layer).

Further project components

The project helps the school to develop more activities on open air with participation of the handicapped children, what was seriously limited in the past due to the absolutely dusty areas. Now all area (0,6 ha) is designed with a new playground in a green area. Didactic equipments and the presence of
18/05/2008

Rotria del Per was contracted for the project and the supervision of installation because of the experience of this special area. The practical activities began with volunteers of a workcamp. More specialised work and installations were done by 2 Peruvian workers. A lot of explications and control was necessary, because most of the installations were undraft

After the implantation of the new playground many new guests, like families and school classes used to visit the school and it appeared the necessity of separated toilet for outside. Rotria del Per gave the idea for an UDDT installation and financed all materials, it was the objective to complete this ecosan demonstration project and show the best possibility at all to reduce water use and avoid water pollution.

Costs

The total costs of the project are not determined, because it was financed by

Page 2/4

data sheets for ecosan projects

ecosan sector project - Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

diverse donations and supported by volunteers. Material costs for greywater treatment with grease trap for pre-treatment and a 3 m tank for storage of treated greywater for irrigation were about 8.000 Soles Peruanos. Material costs for blackwater treatment with 2 double chamber composting filter for pre-treatment and a 6 m tank for storage of treated blackwater for irrigation were about 14.000 Soles Peruanos. In that time 1 US$ had a value of more or less 3,2 Soles Peruanos. Material costs for the two UDDT units (boys/girls) with infiltration of greywater and storage possibility for urine were about 4.000 Soles Peruanos. The building had to be adopted for handicapped children, what makes it more expansive, One 1 US$ had a value of 2,75 Soles.

Greywater vertical flow constructed wetland : - Surface area 16 m (4m x 4m) - Total depth 1,1 m (20 cm gravel with 4 drainage pipe, 60 cm sand, 10 cm gravel with 3 distribution pipes 1,0, 20 cm freeboard) 3 m storage tank for the treated greywater with a pump for irrigation. Blackwater pre-treatment: - 2 compost filter units, each with 2 chambers with an active volume of 1,44 m (1,2 x 1,2m, 1m depth) - Each chamber with a removable cover and a 3 m long ventilation tube of 3 - 4 filter bags (resistant plastic material for shadow greenhouses) 1,0m x 1,0m and 0,7m. - 30% BOD5 reduction was estimated - Every unit has a deeper tank for the filtered effluent with pump - The effluent from the first unit is pumped to the second and from there to the wetland Blackwater vertical flow constructed wetland : - Surface area 45 m (5m x 9m) - Total depth 1,3 m (20 cm gravel with a single 4 drain pipe, 80 cm sand, 10cm gravel with 6 distribution pipes 1,5, 20 cm free board) 6 m storage tank for the treated blackwater with a pump for irrigation. Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilets : - 2 separated UDDT, every room 1,6m x 1,5m (2,3m), equipped with a sink for hand washing, two toilet dishes and two ventilation tubes - Each UDDT has 2 separated chambers with an active volume of 210 L (0,6 x 0,7m, 0,5 m depth) - Each chamber is closed separately from the back (sunny side) with a black metallic door.

part for water accumulation was removed and was connected directly with the urine outlet pipe.

Inside of one UDDT during construction time

Operation and Maintenance

Sits without / with insert for urine separation, and Urinal with removed water accumulation siphon, directly connected with urine outlet

The operation of all facilities is in the hand of the gardener and housekeeper of the school, who is living with his family at the school area. He has to control or to organize the control of al pumps and once a year has to clean al drainage tubes. Once a week he has to put straw in the compost filter, after 6 month he has to change the filter camber and to remove one filter bag. But more important is, that he has to organize the daily reuse of treated greyand blackwater, because unfortunately the irrigation system does not function automatically. In the first time the tanks often run over and the water in the wetland dammed up.

11 Practical experience and lessons learned, comments

The implantation of Ecosan components as constructed wetlands with the objectiv of reuse, always needs qualified engineering with sufficient experience, especially in countries where the technology it is not well known. First of all the project must be adapted to the objective and has to reconsider the fundamental dimension necessities, as the guarantee of oxygen supply in case of vertical flow wetlands. But: - In case of effluent separation the load can differ extremely from common values what can lead to overload and clogging of the wetland. - The selection of materials and the construction have to been controlled to avoid irreparable problems, as perforation of the plastic liner (water loss), to fine or to coarse sand (clogging or bad efficiency), insufficient distribution of wastewater, no possibility to clean the distribution and drainage system, wrong plants and so on. In this case the total water consumption for instance was calculated correctly, but the greywater plant only receives 1,5 m per day and the blackwater more than 4 m, sometimes up to 6 m per day, mainly because the seals in the WCs do not close tight or are not used correctly. The high water flux dissolved a lot of solids during the blackwater pretreatment (compost filter bag), which is transported to the wetland.

10 Design information and technical specifications

The greywater treatment was designed for 23 population equivalents, a hydraulic load of 2,5 m per day and a organic load of 0,575 kg BOD5/d. The blackwater treatment was designed for 30 population equivalents, a hydraulic load of 3,3 m per day and an organic load 2,075 kg BOD5/d. But black- and greywater were not separated before and there was no hydraulic or chemic analysis to prove the assumptions. Greywater pre-treatment: - 1 grease trap of 1m (kitchen, bakery) for grease/oil separation, 10% BOD5 reduction - 1 tank with a pump for the accumulation of the effluent of grease separation and laundry
18/05/2008

UDDT backside, doors made with metal for the 4 separated dehydration chambers

- The two separation sits are made of Ferro cement, only the active toilet has a removable PP insert, the other remains closed. - The mens bathroom has additional a classic urinal, where the upper
draft

Page 3/4

data sheets for ecosan projects

ecosan sector project - Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

the faeces. After 2 to 3 weeks without any straw the chamber begins to smell, and even if they know why, nobody feels responsible for it. And that is the main problem for operation of all (decentralized) wastewater facilities in countries were wastewater treatment is almost absent. The people often are not willing or not able to handle wastewater or faeces or urine, even if they understand the advantage. One point is that the beneficiaries, the owners, often are not the people who are supposed to handle the wastewater facilities, because they have employees and the employees do not have any interest in saving water or nutrients when it affords more work. Another point is, that the consequences of environmental pollution or missing of sanitation hardly are understood as a personal problem and never as a problem that can be changed by own activities. The project was observed during the construction time with certain mistrust by any employer and by any teacher as well. First they mentioned the danger of accidents for the children and later a smell from wastewater which before was not existent (which was not true) and everybody who looked once into the blackwater compost filter even complained more. After this they were wondering what would happen during summer because during this hot time the wastewater always smelt before. But the summertime passed and nothing happened and the plants on the wetlands were growing, no wastewater was visible and the outlet was clear and so the employees who did not have to handle the system forgot the whole thing after a half year.

12 Available documents and references

Rotria del Per and the Colegio Christoferus have the project description in Spanish, which was never published. Rotria del Per made a short description in German of the construction for a sponsor group in Switzerland.

13 Institutions, organisations and contact persons:

Dr. Heike Hoffmann Rotria del Per SAC Jr. Navarra No. 143 Lima/Surco Per heike@rotaria.net www.rotaria.net Fernando Zamorra Colegio San Christoferus Avenida de los Faisanes 143 Lima/Chorrillos Per fernando.zamora@gmx.net Alois Kennerknecht ALKE (composting chambers) C. Pisac 110 Lima/Surco Per ecoalke@terra.com.pe Michaela Krschel Responsible for the volunteers Villa Lima/Chorrillos Per michaela.kroschel@web.de

Continuous flow due to water leakage in the composting chamber or the blackwater pretreatment

Unfortunately this wetland also has very fine sand. Sand availability in the right grain size in Lima is really difficult and there was not enough money to wash it. The effluent is excellent, but clogging only can be controlled by disconnecting alternating a third of the area for one week from the distribution in order to recover the permeability. The valves for regulation were included in the project after the decision for the fine sand, because there are a lot of experiences with clogging in the world.

Distribution system on the blackwater wetland, regulation valves (red) to avoid clogging before planting.

The compost filter system for blackwater pre-treatment is a first experience; except for the problem of water flux it is a very recommendable system for warm climates. The only problem is the necessity of operation. The harvest of the blackwater compost is not a problem in this project. The product does not smell at all and the gardener really loves to mix this humid, obviously nutrient rich compost with his always dry garden compost. The compost process is fast in warm climates and in case of a post-treatment 3 month without further inlet are enough to remove the filter bag. It would be better for handling to work with 4 filterbags in 2 chambers, operating in 3 month cycles. The problem of operation is, to put every week a little bit of straw into the active filter, it seems that the gardener and everybody else does not like to see
18/05/2008

Wetland for greywater 8 month of operation

treatment,

after

The handling with wastewater always will create problems and necessities, that before not existed. The operation of the UDDT only stared, but the project history already has shown, that a long time, at least one year, of frequent explications, orientations and help or sometimes also do it by your own is necessary before the project operation is adopted and the additional work is accepted.
draft Page 4/4