By T. Brundha and R. P. Barathsibi
BORDA partner – DHAN Foundation
A DHAN internal 3-day DEWATS training workshop was organized by DHAN’s Centre for Urban Water Resources (CURE) from 10th to 12th December at DHAN’s People Academy in Pulloothu, Madurai. The Workshop provided a platform for DHAN employees to acquire general awareness and detailed knowledge about sanitation and wastewater treatment approaches, especially with reference to DEWATS. As per DHAN’s culture, the Workshop commenced with a silent prayer followed by addressing the participants and trainers and an introduction of the various sessions of the workshop. The expectations of the participants were documented and discussed. Besides classroom sessions in form of presentations, the Workshop also included sample calculations in group exercises and a site visit to 2 existing DEWATS at Tata-Dhan Academy.
The main objective of this Workshop was to facilitate forthcoming implementation of DEWATS at the different locations where DHAN works with the help of the participants.
Eleven participants and four trainers from CURE attended the Workshop of three days. Participants were DHAN professionals with an academic degree in the areas of civil engineering, agricultural engineering and biotechnology, working within DHAN Vayalagam (Tank) Foundation and DHAN’s Construction Department (Housing) in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The participants worked in three teams during the sample calculations of different DEWATS modules. The questions and discussions made the training sessions more interactive and productive. Besides the classroom sessions, participants were happy to gain hands-on experiences during the site visit to the new campus of Tata-Dhan Academy, where 2 DEWATS with capacities of 12m3 and 15m3 of daily wastewater flow respectively are located.
During the Workshop, Participants were familiarized with the basics of sanitation and wastewater treatment and management, technical solutions for centralised and decentralised wastewater treatment, fields of application and benefits of decentralised technologies, design and construction requirements of DEWATS. Also dealt with were programme management issues related to dissemination of DEWATS through trained DHAN professionals in collaboration with CURE. The three-day training programme included intensive classroom sessions on baseline surveys, design of settler, anaerobic baffle reactor, anaerobic filter, horizontal planted gravel filter and ponds, sample calculations of a complete DEWATS in working groups, as well as a field trip to the two DEWATS systems implemented at Tata-Dhan Academy.
The first general presentations covered information on Water and Wastewater, Wastewater Characteristics, Sanitation Approaches, Sanitation and the MDGs, Urban Sanitation Management, Wastewater Treatment Approaches and DEWATS Approach and Principles. Additionally, an awareness creating film produced by the Centre for Science and Environment was screened. These introductory sessions were important before dealing with the detailed concept of DEWATS so as to fully understand related environmental, chemical, biological and technical basics. In open discussions following the presentations, participants could seek clarifications on remaining doubts. To make the sessions more interesting and absorbing, a quiz programme and games were conducted during the sessions and participants were awarded sweets to keep sugar levels high!
The second day was felt to be very interesting by the participants as they were given a real-life scenario to work out and design a complete DEWATS. This exercise was done in working groups based on preceding presentations and the training manual. The day started with a presentation on “Baseline Data for DEWATS”, which covered a check-list to be followed before commencing a new DEWATS project. Subsequently, the design of primary treatment modules was presented and in a first sample calculation, a settler was designed by the participants in group exercises. A presentation on the design of secondary treatment modules was next on the agenda. However, the calculation of an anaerobic baffle reactor (ABR) was given to the three working groups as homework.
To visualize the techniques and functions of the different DEWATS modules, the BORDA film “DEWATS at Aravind Eye Hospital” was screened. Finally, the participants were taken to Tata-Dhan Academy to view completed DEWATS units and to raise questions and doubts in front of the existing units. During this session, various questions regarding the function of the different modules and on design aspects were addressed and the participants took the opportunity to discuss constructional aspects.
The final day commenced with a discussion on the ABR calculation given as homework, followed by a presentation on the design of anaerobic filters (AF) and tertiary treatment units like planted gravel filters (PGF) and polishing ponds. Subsequently, trainees went back into their working groups to design these units based on the given live example. The BORDA film “A Women SHGs Struggle for Sanitation” was screened to discuss social components of sanitation projects, followed by a fruitful discussion.
A presentation on anticipated future project implementation in collaboration between the participants and CURE, was the last session of the Workshop. In an open discussion, the participants finally shared their experiences gained during the training. The trainers checked whether expectations of the trainees were met.
The overall feedback on the 3-day training was very positive and a second round will be considered in 2010. On the successful completion of the training programme, the participants were awarded with the participation certificates and a group photo.
