Developing Guidance Policies for the Management of Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems (DEWATS) by Local Governments

Improving sanitation is on the agenda of many local governments in developing countries. As centralized sewerage systems are beyond the means of most cities and municipalities, decision makers are increasingly turning to decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) to manage point-sources of wastewater from schools, public markets, subdivisions, hospitals, and others. Local governments have an important role in fostering an enabling environment for the development of DEWATS. The enabling environment may include incentive programs that encourage people to install and use DEWATS; sludge treatment facilities where septage and sludge from DEWATS may be properly discharged; and ordinances that support, rather than inhibit, effective, appropriate, and sustainable technological solutions for wastewater treatment, dispersal, and reuse. Guidance policies are tools that can augment the enabling environment to set standards for appropriate design and proper installation, as well as to stimulate local initiative, interest, and investment in DEWATS. This paper describes the steps that define an organized and systematic approach to DEWATS; the institutional arrangements for managing the associated activities; and recommended policy concepts local governments may adapt to direct activities in pursuit of the long-term goal of community-wide sanitation improvement.