Sponsored by: BMZ
During 2009, BORDA's Research and Development (R&D) department expanded its activities across three broad regions: South East Asia, South Asia and Southern Africa.
The foundation for an international research program was laid the year before in Indonesia, where several laboratory and field measurement techniques were tested and documented. The knowledge gathered during this preparation phase has now been shared with the regional offices and their local research departments.
Currently, a detailed research program is being developed within the scope of a PhD thesis supported by the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) in Germany and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. The thesis will focus on critical dimensioning parameters for decentralized wastewater treatment plants (DEWATS) and investigate regional variations and their influence on plant performance.
The overall program consists of regionally adapted research plans taking into account differences in logistics, resources and high priority regional research needs. Detailed information about applied dimensioning procedures, existing completed plants, other existing data and available laboratory facilities has been gathered to support the program.
Investigations into the treatment efficiency of DEWATS implemented by BORDA are currently being conducted in four countries. They study the effects of feed-fluctuations, different start-up materials and local influencing conditions such as technical, climatic and social aspects.
Such monitoring activities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are performed with the help of students from Gadja Mada University (UGM) and the university UPN “Veterans” Yogyakarta (UPN). Projects starting in October 2009 will have the additional support of a Master student from Flensburg University and a young professional from the “Weltwärts” program funded by the German Government. A similar setup has been scheduled for activities in Bangalore/ India.
In Durban, South-Africa, a DEWATS plant, which is specifically designed for research activities, will start operation in January 2010. And finally research in Lusaka/Zambia has just started at the University of Zambia in the context of a MSc-project.