1.

Leachate Discharge
Faecal sludge contains approximately 90% of liquid which passes through the filtered media in
the drying bed. A perforated pipe collects the discharged leachate and flows to the settling tank
of the constructed wetland.

2.Sludge Drying
After filtration the remaining solid part of the sludge is kept in the drying bed for at least two
weeks to dewater and dry properly. During this period, the plant operators turn the sludge
upside down every day to help the sludge to dry. Afterwards, the dried sludge is moved to the
dry sludge storage zone.

3.Drying Bed
The plant consists of 10 drying beds which are used for sludge drying and separating the
wastewater (leachate). The vacutag discharges the collected raw faecal sludge through the inlet
of the drying beds. Dimension of each bed is 15’ X 7’ X 2.5’. The drying bed contains three
layers of the stone chips as filter media with a slope to drain out the liquid part from the faecal
sludge.

4.Vacutag
Sakhipur Municipality has a modified mechanical vacuum tanker for raw faecal sludge
collection. This is known as vacutag, which has a capacity of 1000 litres. Users pay BDT 800
(USD 10) per trip to desludge the containments.

5.Water Quality of Effluent

The polishing pond’s water is visibly close to clean water, which indicates the performance of
the constructed wetland and the quality of the effluent is checked every quarter. The plant
discharges the treated wastewater to the nearby canal.

6.Polishing Pond
Treated wastewater from the constructed wetland is retained in the polishing pond for 24 hours,
which increases dissolved oxygen by aeration. The sunlight also reduces the organic particles
from the polishing pond’s wastewater before discharging into the environment through the
outlet.

7.Solid waste separation

The solid wastes are unloaded and the organic and inorganic components are segregated by
the plant operators. Only organic solid wastes remain in this zone and rest are transferred for
reusing, recycling, or dumping.
8.Solid Waste Collection
Entrepreneurs in the town collect solid waste from households, restaurants, bazaar, etc. and
transport the waste to the plant through a van. Each household pays BDT 50 (USD 0.6) per
month as a collection fee.

9.Temperature collection and record

keeping
The temperature data is captured using continuous data logger and thermophilic composting is
identified during the decomposition period. During the eight weeks of composting, moisture
content reduces to 25% from 60%.

10.Composting Condition
The volume of the compost gradually decreases from first week to eighth week. The turning
ensures good composting. The texture, colour, moisture content and temperature indicate the
performance of co-composting, therefore the plant workers regularly monitor the changes during
the composting period.

11.Compost Bed
The treatment process follows the batch system where a batch is aerobically composted
separately with intense biological activity from other batches to a final product. The overall
performance of the composting process is therefore the combined effect of the activity of
individual microorganisms in each batch. There are two trenches with a provision of eight
composting beds. Each batch takes around eight weeks for aerobic composting.

12.ICCDDRB lab certification

13.Certification
Sakhipur co-compost plant got the Green category certification from the Department of
Environment (DoE).

The recent SFD lite report (January 2020) showed that 58% of the town’s sludge is now safely
managed. There is still a lot to do to reach our target of 100% safely managed sanitation
services.

14.Packaging & Storage

After two weeks of maturation and safety period, the compost is packaged for sale as ‘Shakhi
Compost’. The entire process from sludge delivery to final compost takes about twelve weeks.
15.Quality control
For the last five years, the sample is tested at Soil Research and Development Institute (SRDI)
in each quarter to ensure the quality of compost. The marketed compost has met all the
required criteria for safe composting.

16.End Use
The plant can treat 125 tonnes of solid waste and 1,200 tonnes of faecal sludge per year and
produces 24 tonnes of compost. There is a common understanding between Sakhipur municipal
authority and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of Sakhipur sub-district to use the
end product at some agricultural field.

In the last couple of years, the Shakhi compost has been used by the local farmers for
producing seasonal vegetables, fruits, and flowers.

17.Compost Turning
Turning of compost mass during the decomposition process has many important functions, e.g.
supplying oxygen, redistributing the waste products generated by degradation reaction,
redistributing some anaerobic zone, releasing excess water content, etc. The turner is used to
confirm uniform mixing during starting of the operation and then turning off the mixture regularly
at three days’ interval to release inhibition effect during decomposition.

18.Turner
The turner is a customised locally made mechanical vehicle which moves in the horizontal
direction and turns around the co-compost beneath the vehicle.

19.Mixing Zone
The organic part of the solid waste, dry sludge, and sawdust are mixed together with a ratio of
3:1:1. During the mixing, it is essential to maintain the moisture content therefore it doesn’t
exceed 70%. Sawdust is added to control the moisture level in co-compost before placing it into
the compost bed.

20.Sawdust storage zone

The sawdust is stored here for mixing with dry sludge and solid waste.

21.Dry Sludge Storage Zone

Approximately two weeks old dried sludge is brought to this zone from the drying beds for
intermediate storage before mixing.
22.Time vs Temperature Chart
23.Post Maturation Chamber
Following the time vs temperature chart, the internal temperature of the post maturation
chamber is maintained to 55 degree Celsius to reduce the risk from excreted pathogens.

24.Solar Powered Heat Exchanger

The compost is transferred to the post maturation chamber where it undergoes hot air treatment
through specially designed solar powered heat exchanger for 48 to 72 hours to ensure hygienic
compost.

25.Maturation Chamber
The collected compost from the trench is left here for a week to air dry. The plant operators
regularly steer the compost materials to break larger particles into smaller pieces. It further
reduces the moisture content to less than 15%.

26.Strainer
Compost from the maturation chamber is screened through the strainer to segregate the
desired size of compost for further operation.

27.Compost collection
After eight weeks the compost is taken out from the trench to the maturation chamber.

28.Leachate Transport
The discharged leachate transports through the pipeline to feed into the constructed wetland for
further treatment.

29.Constructed Wetland
The constructed wetland (60’ X 10’ X 5.5’) consists of settling tanks, various sizes of stone chips
in three layers, and the plants like Canna Indica. In the settling tank, the remaining solid
particles settle down and leachate passes through the constructed wetland. The roots of the
plant help to absorb organic matters from wastewater and reduce the Biological Oxygen
Demand (BOD).

Information
Sakhipur of Tangail district is an ‘A’ category municipality based on its revenue generation. A
baseline survey in 2015 indicates an average 15,000 litres of faecal sludge and 8,000 kilograms
of household solid waste are generated daily. Consequently, the Shit Flow Diagram (SFD)
states that 0% of faecal sludge was safely managed. WaterAid Bangladesh in collaboration with
BASA Foundation has provided technical and financial support to Sakhipur municipal authority
to establish an effective and efficient faecal sludge and solid waste management system for the
town. Sakhipur co-compost plant is located over an area around 11,500 square feet. The
municipal authority currently operates the co-composting plant. The plant addresses
environmental hazards by managing the faecal sludge and solid waste generated in the
municipality, where the sanitation value chain is maintained from containment to safe reuse or
disposal of sludge. The end product has become popular among farmers.

Foundation Stone
The plant was inaugurated by Mr Anupam Shahjahan Joy, MP, honourable member of the
parliament on 11 April 2015. Former district commissioner, municipality mayor, distinguished
government, semi- government, non-government, and local officials were also present in the
inauguration.