This section provides an overview of environmental planning fundamentals required to develop appropriate wastewater treatment facilities for developing countries like many in the WCR.

A typical process for domestic wastewater management planning consists of the following steps (EPA, 1994):

Additional considerations in the overall wastewater management process are :

The first step in a wastewater management plan is characterising, or defining, the community or communities involved. The objective criteria that must be characterised are the number of people, the population distribution and density, whether piped water or a collection system is available, location of natural drainage basins, and economic status. Subjective criteria address questions such as the following:

With a community profile established, the next step is to define what specific problems the wastewater management plan must address. Problem definition may be as simple as recognising the potential for unlined pit latrines to leach contaminants into groundwater; it is possible that building a new lined latrine could solve a problem of local residents becoming ill from drinking well water. On the other hand, problem definition may be quite complicated, involving such efforts as soil borings to determine soil permeability, aerial surveys to identify septic tank failures, or water quality monitoring. Questionnaires can help identify the local population’s perception of the problem.

After the community is adequately characterised and the wastewater problem is defined, a group of feasible solutions can be considered. One approach is to eliminate technologies or groups of technologies that clearly are not feasible for the community. It is not necessary or wise to select a single technology without evaluating others. "Appropriate technology" can be defined as technology that is affordable and operable by the user and that reliably provides the needed degree of purification (Kreissl, 1996). Other criteria are that the technology be financially sustainable by the local community and use a holistic approach (Bhamidimarri, 1996). Appropriate technology for a rural, low-density development may be septic tanks or a facultative lagoon. It would not be appropriate to use an activated-sludge process because such processes are energy-intensive and require much operational skill. The focus of this document is to provide a methodology for determining which technologies are appropriate.

An environmental impact assessment should address cost, potential growth impacts, energy consumption, water quality. These criteria should be examined by the community or planners. They are applicable to small rural areas as well as large urban centres.

Public participation offers important benefits for wastewater management planning. It increases a community’s awareness of waste-related problems, the value of waste management, and the likely cost. Surveys of rural residents in developing countries find that in healthy communities most people attribute their health to good air, good climate, easy accessibility to help in case of emergencies, and privacy (World Bank, 1982). They do not usually associate clean water with a healthy environment, but they do associate unsanitary conditions with an unhealthy environment. It is important for communities to make the connection between good health and clean drinking water. Residents are more supportive of wastewater management plans when they understand the importance. Ways to increase public participation include community meetings to discuss plans and to allow input to final decisions.

The final stage of planning is to re-examine all issues addressed in the initial stages, evaluating information that becomes available later in the planning process and using it to update earlier findings and decisions. It is a fine-tuning of the decision-making process. If a new facility is to be built, design details are prepared at this stage.

Even after a project has been successfully implemented, it will not be effective in reducing pollution and improving public health without a management structure to ensure effective operation of facilities. The management structure must have adequate economic resources obtained through user fees or other means to fund maintenance and effective operation of the systems. The major problem, as perceived by many in the WCR, is development of an appropriate organisation, forceful and with an adequate mandate to successfully administer and carry out the planning process from beginning to end.

As a part of the process of building effective wastewater management programs in developing countries there is a need for land use planning on a national scale to protect existing ground and surface water sources from pollution related to unregulated development. Zonal Planning policies should also define specific areas where sewage treatment systems are required to protect the resource, whether a river for potable water or a nearshore marine swimming area. Barbados has practised zonal planning to good effect since the 1960s to protect ground water resources.

CONSIDERATIONS for INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Industrial wastewater makes up about 80 percent of the entire pollutant load in WCR coastal waters. However, the economies of developing nations are very dependent on industry, which presents a dilemma: Can the environmental benefits of wastewater treatment outweigh negative economic impacts?

Developing countries often view environmental regulation of industry as a costly luxury. A common justification for failing to adopt such regulations is that the regulations would diminish the competitiveness of the nation’s industries, and that the jobs those industries provide are more important than pollution control (Miller, 1981). Experience has shown, however, that effective pollution control facilities cost 1 to 5 percent of the installed capital cost of a new industry, whereas future programs to clean up industrially polluted areas can cost as much as 1,000 times the original cost of industrial development (Miller, 1981).

Key steps in developing an industrial wastewater management plan are as follows:

Government involvement is essential for effective industrial wastewater management. Industry is unlikely to propose and implement pollution controls on its own because of the significant financial impact. Also, without standard, industry-wide requirements, any company that takes on the financial responsibility for pollution control can be placed at a competitive disadvantage to companies that do not. For this reason, government must assume responsibility for industrial pollution control and impose uniform effluent regulations and standards. It is important that the government involve the industry leaders when deciding on appropriate effluent regulations and standards. Local governments also can provide subsidies to encourage the use of pollution control technology and alleviate some of the associated economic burden.

One strategy for industrial wastewater management is to establish organised industrial districts (OIDs). The Turkish government has successfully applied this program since 1961 (Filibeli, 1996). The strategy creates industrial zones with suitable infrastructure at a low cost to attract industrial investors. Roads, power, water supply, wastewater collection and disposal, technical consulting, and other incentives are included in the OIDs. Most OIDs have a central treatment facility to pre-treat waste streams before discharge to municipal sewers. Waste minimisation programs are also encouraged.

Goals and methods for defining problems to be addressed are the same for industrial wastewater management as for other wastewater management plans. The volume of waste, seasonal variation, and waste characteristics need to be quantified.

Understanding of a country’s economic conditions is important for deciding the amount of local and foreign currency that can be spent for industrial pollution control. Countries with strong economies can afford to spend more on pollution control. However, countries with weaker economies that are inclined to spend little on pollution control must bear in mind that pollution cleanup is far more costly than pollution prevention.

Few developing countries have an abundance of personnel skilled in wastewater management and planning or treatment plant design and operation. Some international funding agencies can help set up a wastewater management program to train workers in facility operation and maintenance. The Caribbean Water & Wastewater Association (CWWA) has among it’s aims and objectives :

The CWWA is currently in the process of establishing an indigenous Certification Programme for operatives in the water and wastewater industry across the Caribbean. This programme was conceived to address the needs for trained work force in facility operations

Ultimately, government officials need to decide their nation’s priorities. Are planning decisions based on short-term or long-term goals? It is difficult to spend money on the environment in developing countries facing other very pressing problems, such as housing shortages and poverty. However, planners need to consider all factors, including the cost, health risk, and environmental degradation, resulting from delaying pollution control programs.