Foreword
Securing to reach full implementation of the integrated water resources management isurgently required, as it is clearly shown in Sustainable Development Goals. Reduction ofdischarge of untreated wastewater into water bodies is one of the important targets, but Datasuggests that achieving universal access to basic sanitation service by 2030 would require
doubling the current annual rate of progress as United Nations announced. There could beseveral barriers and obstacles to be overcome in this ﬁeld and current occasion.
This project, the Policy Dialogue and Network Building of Multi-stakeholders on
Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater Management in ASEAN Countries (PoDIWM)
is a very timely subject. As the project title expressing a straightforward idea, Policy dialogue
and network building in the stakeholders in this field is essential to share the knowledge
appropriately and cooperate with each segment of administration in the government and local
municipality, and agencies.
During the duration of this project, the world has been radically transformed by the
impact of COVID-19. Although it may pose a threat to the project colleagues and affect theimplementation of the project, it also reiterated the importance of sanitation of the living
environment. We remain strongly committed to continuing to foster the diffusion of fact andknowledge, even on this difﬁcult occasion.
I sincerely wish all delegates a successful and productive dialogue here where greatideas can take shape and become reality for the good of the regional environment and all its
inhabitants.
Thank you,

Masahiro Osako, Dr.,
Director of the Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Preface
Access to safe water and sanitation is indispensable to maintain a minimum standard ofliving. There is no exception to this principle, and no one should be left behind. In reality,
unfortunately, many urban dwellers and farmers in the rural area still have limited access tosafe water and sanitation in Southeast Asia.
The major source of water contamination in this region is the domestic wastewater fromhouseholds and commercial buildings. Since the aquatic environment is harmed and thesanitation condition for habitants is deteriorating, improvement of the contaminated water
ﬂown into the environment is requisite for securing the sanitation and the hygiene.
The decentralized domestic wastewater management system is the sustainable and robust
way of appropriate management of aqueous environments both in an urban and rural areas inSoutheast Asia. It can contribute to improving the water environment quality when installed
alone in individual residences or communities, and is expected to complement the centralized
sewage management system. Decentralized systems are also attracting attention as a way toprovide access to safe water to vulnerable populations.
The ASEAN-JAIF funded project, Policy Dialogue and Network Building of Multistakeholders on Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater Management in ASEANCountries (PoDIWM), has aimed to provide and share the technical and institutional
knowledge and attempted to remove barriers to the adoption of decentralized systems in order
to expand their applicability and feasibility in ASEAN regions.
Pandemics of infectious diseases have made our society being sanitized and clean to theextent we have not seen in our history. COVID-19 pandemics also drastically changed oursocial systems and the domestic wastewater management has been affected. On the other
hand, domestic wastewater management shed light in providing opportunity to observe thevirus in the drained wastewater which could contribute to the early detection of pandemics
in the cities and communities. We are standing on the frontline to deliver the safety tocommunity and society in terms of public health.
We are happily delivering the results of our project activities in this report. We hope that
this report will further strengthen the collaboration among the project colleagues and will
attract the potential stakeholders in the ASEAN region.
Regards,
Tomonori Ishigaki, Dr.,
Rieko Kubota, M.A.
Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Contents
Foreword, Preface
Contents
About PoDIWM................................................... 7
Brief Summery of PoDIWM project8

Events ................................................................ 13
Capacity Building Training

14

1st Policy Dialogue

22

2nd Policy Dialogue

30

Country Reports ............................................... 35
Brunei Darussalam

36

Kingdom of Cambodia

40

Republic of Indonesia

45

Lao People's Democratic Republic

50

Malaysia

55

Republic of the Union of Myanmar

59

Republic of the Philippines

63

Kingdom of Thailand

68

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

73

Activity Reports ................................................ 79
Round-Robin Test

81

Technology Selection Guideline

85

Regional Policy Recommendation

91

Testimonial

About PoDIWM

About PoDIWM

Brief Summary of PoDIWM project
INTRODUCTION

EventsIn Asian developing countries, a major source of water contamination is the domestic wastewaterfrom households and commercial buildings. Due to the contaminated water flown into theenvironment, the aquatic environment is harmed and the sanitation condition for habitants is also
deteriorating.

Country Reports

Most of the ASEAN countries establish the environmental standard for water quality andeffluent standards for domestic wastewater already exist. However, compliance to the standards
is difficult due to the lack of law enforcement to comply with the standard of domestic wastewater
treatment, also an appropriate policy making and governance to execute the necessary policies andcountermeasures to meet the water quality of effluent standard. On top of that, in many countries,
wastewater issue is taken care by ministry of public works or such, and environmental issue is takencare by the ministry of environment or such. Such bureaucratic silos have been a factor for the lack ofpolicy-making and its implementation. For the ASEAN countries to appropriately establish legislationand policies, possible policy and technological options should be well understood and well facilitatedby relevant stakeholders.

Activity Reports

Domestic wastewater treatment issue isregional issue in an aspect of water pollution of
the environmental body including river and marine
environment. The situation of current domestic
wastewater treatment in AMSs is similar toeach other though available policy, resource andtechnologies vary due to the difference in socialand economic conditions. The problem and its
causes can be addressed at the regional levelby sharing the knowledge and practices of peer
countries. Policy implementation can be promoted
through the ASEAN framework in conjunction with
the ASEAN Blueprints.

Site Visit in Kick-off Event, Indonesia (October 9, 2018)

OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGYThis project aims to serve as a policy and institutional design development platform for multistakeholders on integrated decentralized domestic wastewater management and technology
showcase of decentralized domestic wastewater treatment in ASEAN countries.

8

About PoDIWM

Brief Summery of PoDIWM project

The project consisted of six main parts; namely, 1) Assessment of the status of legal policy
systems and technology on domestic wastewater management in 9 AMSs*, 2) Fact-finding survey
on legislation/policy/program/initiatives such as certification system about integrated decentralized
domestic wastewater treatment in 9 AMSs, 3) Policy dialogues of AMSs on initiatives for integrated
decentralized domestic wastewater treatment and its implementation, 4) Round-robin test ofdecentralized domestic wastewater treatment facilities manufactured to be tested in Indonesia,
Thailand, and Japan 5) Capacity development training of multi-stakeholders for policy implementation,6) Policy consultation in each 9 AMSs on domestic wastewater management including policies
management, standardization, public and market initiatives for integrated decentralized domestic
wastewater treatment. Depending on the conditions and priorities of each AMS, we shall tailor-madethe preparation or policy draft, program action plan, strategy or draft grant proposal to donors as an
outcome of the policy dialogue and policy consultation.
* As decentralized wastewater management is not applicable to Singapore anymore, Singapore was not involved in the Project though wehave exchanged information and shared experiences.

This project also emphasizes the importance of networking and collaboration of multi-stakeholders
relating to the domestic wastewater management. The project activity bridges the communication
among the related stakeholders in one country and in interregional to discuss and make a “prioritized”
policy to promote decentralized domestic wastewater management.

Brief Summery of PoDIWM project

About PoDIWM

9Country Reports

EventsAbout PoDIWM

Directorate of Human Settlement, Ministry of Public Works and Housing (Kementerian PUPR),
Indonesia will be the proponent of the project and National Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES), Japan, will be appointed as an Implementing agency. The officers from wastewater
management related institutions, companies and relevant ministries at the national level will be thedirect beneficiaries of the project and the communities that apply to the treatment will be indirect
beneficiaries from reduced environmental pollution and health risk. Indonesia, as a proponent, isgoing to lead the regional policy dialogue as a chairperson.

IA: Implementing Agency
JMT: JAIF Management Team
Project Steering Committee (PSC): (PUPR, Mission of Japan to ASEAN, GoJ, Environment Division of ASEAN Secretariat, AWGWRM Chair)
Advisory Group: (Related Ministries of GoJ, Industrial Associations, donor’s organization, academic experts)

JAIF PoDIWM Project Implementation Structure

Activity Reports

FINDINGS OF COMMON ISSUES IN 9 AMSs
The trend of coverage of the management of domestic wastewater in each country showed thethree groups of the development stage, such as (i) more than 50% of the population in national orat least in the urban is covered by the centralized treatment systems, but still being in the transition
phase that requires the development of decentralized treatment system, (ii) more than 50% of the
population in national or at least in urban is covered by the septic tank with proper management as
their regulation but still need the development of current technology in urban and an expansion to therural area for implementing the appropriate management of treatment technology, and (iii) more than
50% of the population in national are only able to access to the improperly managed treatment systemor open defecation and need a strong effort to improve the situation. Besides the implementationof appropriate technology, the regional disparities in the country, and the lack of design of the total
system including the sludge treatment are raised as common problems. It is necessary to legislate
the sludge as well as the sediment or dredged mud or any other sludge-like materials. Some countries
have also common problems to handle the gray water appropriately. Substantial regulation of theeffluent standard and the combined treatment system for black water and gray water are recognizedby all responded countries in this project.
10

About PoDIWM

Brief Summery of PoDIWM projectDomestic wastewater management requires a comprehensive viewpoint of administrationand governance and needed interdisciplinary cooperation. Intuitional and legal arrangements
to collaborate with the several administrative departments are essential to moving forward theappropriate management of domestic wastewater in each country. Sectionalism is one of thestrongest disabling factors on the moving forward the appropriate domestic wastewater management
both in national and local government.
Lack of a sustainable financial mechanism for installation, operation, and maintenance of thedecentralized wastewater treatment system is a common issue across the ASEAN member states.
The same problem occurs in the centralized system, however, the public own system is easier tobudget in contrast to the privately owned one. Incubation of public awareness with collaborative
activity with the local residents is essential to strengthening the responsibility and cost-sharing
sense. Appropriate tariff setting and fee collection systems that take into account compensation forsocially vulnerable people are requisite. Involvement of the private sector including the scheme of
public-private partnership will be a perspective measures for the successful implementation of thedecentralized domestic wastewater treatment projects.
Financially and technically reasonable scheme for sludge management, including the removalfrom the individual plant, collection, transportation, treatment, recycle, and disposal, has not been
established yet though it is an indispensable part of the sustainable management of domestic
wastewater. Certification of operation and management service for the decentralized system isrequisite for emphasizing the regulatory enforcement of sludge management.
Decision-makers in the central and local government urge the appropriate design and technology
selection guidance of a decentralized domestic wastewater treatment system that suits the local
legislation and condition of the community. It shall be useful for building permission and inspectionthat will be conducted by the certified engineer officers. The coverage of gray water becomes acommon problem that should be solved following fecal management. The degree of urgency depends
on the local history and condition, but it may affect the technology selection and budgeting either.
Domestic wastewater treatment system is the key infrastructure and utility and is requested tobe resilient against natural disasters, climate change, and pandemics. It is necessary to provide thebenefits and drawbacks of both the decentralized and centralized systems in this region.

Kick-off Meeting, Indonesia (October 9, 2018)

PSC Meeting, Philippines (May 27, 2019)
Brief Summery of PoDIWM project

About PoDIWM

11

Events

About PoDIWM

Capacity Building Training

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Events

October 28 to November 1, 2019 Tsukuba, Japan

14

EventsCapacity Building Training

Capacity Building Training

We have conducted the capacity building training for all the CTF members to visit Japan and learn
from the Japanese technology and experience on decentralized domestic wastewater management.
54 CTF members plus some observers from the region have joined the one-week training. The lectures
include the topics such as “Regulatory framework in sewerage sector”, “Introduction of Johkasou Act
and its implementation in Japan”, “Determination and selection mechanism of suitable facilities inmunicipality level”, “Performance evaluation system for on-site treatment” among others and conducted
a site visit to the Bio-Eco Laboratory where the treatment performance testing method is conducted.

1st Policy Dialogue
2nd Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

Events15

About PoDIWM

Ibaraki Kasumigaura
Environmental
Science Center

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Events

October 30, 201916

EventsCapacity Building Training

Capacity Building Training

Bio-Eco Engineering
Research Laboratory
Miho
1st Policy Dialogue

October 30, 2019

2nd Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

Events17

About PoDIWM

Discussion

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Events

October 31, 2019
International Congress Center, Tsukuba, Japan18

EventsCapacity Building Training

Capacity Building Training
1st Policy Dialogue
2nd Policy Dialogue

Discussing in mechanism of selecting Decentralized
Wastewater Treatment Technology each country

Capacity Building Training

Events19

About PoDIWM
Activity Reports

Country Reports

Eventswith Certificate
after the schedule

20

EventsCapacity Building Training

Capacity Building Training

1st Policy Dialogue

2nd Policy Dialogue

21

EventsCapacity Building Training

About PoDIWM

1st Policy Dialogue
January 19-22, 2020 Atlet Century Park Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia

Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsWe have held the first regional policy dialogue in Jakarta, Indonesia from January 19 to 22, 2020.
All the CTF members and some observers from AMSs, AWGWRM, ASEAN secretariat, Ministry ofEnvironment Japan have participated. Interim reports of fact finding survey in nine countries havebeen introduced by the CTF members, and some common issues have been found. Based on suchfindings, we had a practical discussion, toward regional policy roadmap, by concretely identifying ideal
visions, policy interventions, regional activities/programs and local characteristic for the six issues: 1)
technological needs for decentralized domestic wastewater management, 2) policy coordination on
domestic wastewater management, 3) master plan making for domestic wastewater management,
4) potential financial mechanism and fee collection, 5) policy implementation and capacity building
at the local government level, and 6) standardization on treatment performance testing methodfor decentralized domestic wastewater management. The outputs of the discussion are shown as
following figures.

22

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

DAY 1 : Country Presentation

Capacity Building Training

1st Policy Dialogue

2nd Policy Dialogue

23

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

About PoDIWM

DAY 2 : Group Discussion

Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsGroup 1 : Technological needs

24

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

Group 2 : Policy coordination and master plan making

1st Policy Dialogue
2nd Policy Dialogue

1st Policy Dialogue

Events25

About PoDIWM
Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsGroup 3 : Financial mechanism and fee collection

26

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

Group 4 : Policy implementation and capacity building

1st Policy Dialogue
2nd Policy Dialogue

1st Policy Dialogue

Events27

About PoDIWM
Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsGroup 5 : Standardization

Output papers on the discussion of the break out groups of participants
28

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

1st Policy Dialogue

2nd Policy Dialogue

29

Events

1st Policy Dialogue

About PoDIWM

2nd Policy Dialogue
October 21, 22, and 27, 2020 Online

OVERALL

Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsWe have held the second regional policy dialogue on October 21, 22, and 27, 2020. Throughthe policy dialogue, the participants agreed on the necessity to develop a policy roadmap for the
introduction, dissemination, and establishment of appropriate domestic wastewater management in
the ASEAN region, and confirmed that the network of stakeholders is mutually committed to resolving
common regional issues and will continue to work closely with the ASEAN Secretariat to strengthen
the activity in this field.

PARTICIPANTS AND COUNTRIESAll country task force members in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Guest speakers and experts from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia (Corepresentative of the project), ASEAN Working Group on Waste Resource Management, Ministry of
the Environment, Japan, World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies, Japan.
30

Events

2nd Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

1st Policy Dialogue

2nd Policy Dialogue

31

Events

2nd Policy Dialogue

About PoDIWM

DETAILED REPORT OF THE POLICYDIALOGUE AND PERSPECTIVES

Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsBased on the results of a fact-finding survey in the project
countries regarding the legislation, budget securing, andtechnological feasibility for domestic wastewater management, theparticipants identified areas in need of improvement and resource
investment. Besides, policy recommendations were made to achieve
long-term goals (e.g., strengthening the connection to sanitary
wastewater treatment) in relation to the Goal 6: Ensure access towater and sanitation for all in Sustainable Development Goals.
The progress and results of discussions in each country
encouraged the participants to agree on the necessity of acommon regional format for the introduction, dissemination, andestablishment of decentralized wastewater treatment systems at
the ASEAN regional level, and will continue to work closely with theASEAN Secretariat.
At the end of the dialogue, we have agreed to collaborate
continuously to contribute and support the improvement of domestic
wastewater treatment technologies, systems, and institutions in
the ASEAN region through the network of the regional experts thathave been developed in the project. We have also agreed with theimplementation of the next phase of JAIF-PoDIWM project or otherrelating research activities as responsible stakeholders for water
resource management and pollution control in the Asian region.

32

Events

2nd Policy Dialogue

Capacity Building Training

1st Policy Dialogue

2nd Policy Dialogue

PoDIWM Secretariat in Japan

33

Events

2nd Policy Dialogue

Country Reports

About PoDIWM

Brunei Darussalam
CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

EventsThe management and upgrading of national sewerage systems, including sewerage development
construction as well as the monitoring of effluent water quality discharge from sewerage treatment
plants are important aspects in this regard. Department of Drainage and Sewerage (DDS) of Public
Works Department, Ministry of Development (MOD) has a supporting role of providing sewage tanker
services for cleaning and desludging of sanitary pipelines and manholes, and laboratory testing of
effluent samples.

Activity Reports

Country Reports

In order for Brunei Darussalam to have a sustainable water treatment system, DDS has taken theinitiative to develop the Design Manual and Guidelines for Sewerage which describe essentialreferences and guide to Qualified Persons (i.e. engineers and architects) and designers responsible
for the design of wastewater system. The manual provides a standardized basis for planning, designand construction. This is merely to ensure that the wastewater system is functional and should also
comply with central government requirements.

Building Approval Process for residential, commercial and industrial development

36

Country Reports

Brunei

Brunei
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar

Improved sanitation coverage of the Population:
59% centralized sewerage system (major townships & National Housing Schemes)
34% with septic tanks (sub-urban & rural areas)

Philippines
Thailand
VietnamSludge received at Sungai Paku Landfill between 2016 and 2019.

Sludge deposited to landfill contains the sludge from centralized wastewater operation as well asfrom decentralized operation (septic tanks). Judging from the estimated sludge from centralized
systems, the sludge from the decentralized system would be lower than predicted from the regularinterval (once in every 5 years) of desludging. It indicated that desludging of septic tanks is not
performed at regular intervals but more infrequently around once every ten years.
BruneiCountry Reports

37

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE
About PoDIWM● Legislation on domestic wastewater and sludge treatment· To share/link with other Government Agencies such as Town and Country Planning Order, 2015,
Environmental Protection and Management Order, 2016, Pollution Control Guidelines for Industrial
Development 2003, Minor Offences Act, 2013
· To publish Design Manual and Guidelines for sewerage· To enact the Sewerage Act● Policy and program for domestic wastewater management
5 years National Development Plan
Annual recurrent budget● Effluent standards

Events

DDS and JASTRE guidelines for the required monitoring value (BOD5; 20 mg/l and TSS; 30 mg/l) for
decentralized domestic wastewater treatment is higher than that in Japan.

● Standard on treatment performance testing methods

Standard and Guidelines on performance testing methods are in place.

● Financial mechanism and cost recovery
Country Reports

Fully funded by Brunei government (centralized)
Installation and maintenance for Septic tank borne by house owners.

● Performance on domestic wastewater treatment technologies
Performance of centralized STP is based on analyses.
Monitoring of septic tank has been started in 2019.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS● Institutional arrangement and legal framework
Activity Reports

59% of the population uses a centralized sewerage system. For Brunei’s Kampong Ayer settlement(around 13k person based on 2018 statistics) And 34% of people in Brunei are served with septic
tanks, especially in suburban and rural areas. Since certain regions in Brunei are quite remote,not all of Brunei’s population will have access to centralized wastewater treatment in the future.
Implementation of appropriate management of the decentralized system is requisite. For instance,
the septic tank should be desludged regularly, and deposited into the Sg Paku landfill.

38Country Reports

Brunei

● Technology

Brunei

It is planned to develop the Strengthening the monitoring and maintenance section in sewerage act
and implementing concrete regulation in sewerage act to spell out and provide details with regards
to the monitoring and maintenance procedure of septic tanks.
It is proposed to improve the monitoring and desludging plan of septic tanks from currently lessthan once every 5 years to once every 2 years. Key monitoring parameters should be BOD5, TSS,
COD and TS.
Based on the results of the monitoring, septic tank effluent limits, frequency of desludging andmaintenance, guidelines and regulations need to be updated and referred to in the sewerage act.
The promotion of R&D is important in order to improve septic tank treatment and design e.g.
prefabricated septic tanks which can limit ammonium, phosphate and nitrate emissions.
The involvement of R&D in this regard can also include the usage of treatment ponds for
phytoremediation, such as the utilization of specific plants for wastewater treatment.
Septic tank database shall be created and maintained, for planning and enforcement.
It is recommended to continue the planned maintenance and upgrade of centralized domestic
wastewater treatment plants as part of the National Development Plan.
It is recommended to promote more regular desludging of septic tanks in order to improve
the performance of septic tanks and to avoid discharge of septic tank effluent, which has little
treatment, into the environment such as Sungai Brunei.
It is also recommended to continue monitoring and maintenance of septic tank especially thosedischarge directly to the water source such as rivers etc. in combination with finalizing the Drainage
and Sewerage Act.

Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar● Finance

Philippines

Currently, the septic tank owners bear 100 % of the cost for desludging and monitoring of septic
tanks.
Currently important initiatives as part of the National Development Plan, the sewerage network is
being upgraded, which includes repairs of sewerage pipelines.
As part of the policy recommendation, private-public partnerships (PPP) for long-term continued
maintenance of STP to maintain optimum performance should be considered. The Brunei
government encourages the connection to the centralized system. In the future, a connection fee tothe centralized system shall be considered.

Thailand● Public awareness and participation

BruneiCountry Reports

Vietnam

JASTRE shall assist in the preparation of guidebooks for the public on the importance of water
quality, the linkage between septic tank maintenance and improving water quality and theenvironment, and our role for a sustainable future.
Efforts shall be put on community outreach programmes in all four districts of Brunei to raise publicawareness and participation.

39

About PoDIWM

Kingdom of Cambodia
CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Events

Improvement of wastewater management policy was taken by the Sub-decree 235 in 2017. However,improvement of the enforcement system of Sub-decree 235 is one of the ongoing challenges so far.
Building Code has existed though it is not designed to meet the wastewater quality criteria of Subdecree 235.
Domestic wastewater management has not been implemented appropriately for various reasons suchas institutional, economic, social and technical issues.

(1) Issues for implementing decentralized domestic wastewater management
Country Reports· Needs in building a system to evaluate and secure the ability of the decentralized domestic
wastewater treatment facility (e.g. Performance evaluation test for Johkasou in Japan)· Insufficient system to ensure the capability of contractor· Insufficient system for maintenance and inspection of decentralized domestic wastewater treatment
facility· Lack of removal of sludge and proper disposal (e.g. O&M inspection, Authorization for Removal of
sludge· Lack of management of graywater· Residents' awareness of water environment and wastewater management etc.

Activity Reports(2) Background to being a barrier for implementing decentralized domestic wastewater
management· Inadequate discussion, lack of sharing recognition about area segmentation between sewage
and decentralized system, or certification system of effluent, because of overlapping jurisdictionof multiple ministries (jurisdiction of Infrastructure development or water environment).
· Shortage of information about the performance of the distributed domestic wastewater
management facility because many facilities are to be constructed on site.
· There is no legal provision nor mechanism of facilities for sewage management.
· Lack of residents' awareness about wastewater management, motivation to pay the service fee(3) Information necessary for solving the problem· Facilitating knowledge sharing of mutual information on distributed wastewater management
system among stakeholders· Promotion of understanding of systems related to decentralized domestic wastewater facilities
and educational methods that can secure domestic wastewater management

40

Country Reports

CambodiaBrunei

Current Administrative structure for decentralized wastewater management in Cambodia is shown infollowing diagram.

Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar

The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme reported the low coverage of the population using
improved sanitation facilities as shown in the table below. Besides, ADB revealed that most ofhousehold septic tank are the unsealed base (e.g. more than 90% in the surrounding area of Tonle Sap
Lake).

Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam

CambodiaCountry Reports

41

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE
About PoDIWM● Institutional effectiveness· Sub-decree 235 shows the responsibilities and roles of each related organizations. But it is notmonitored for proper enforcement of regulations by each institution.
· Harmonizing between environmental policy and construction policy may not be taking place.
For example, building permit regulated by construction law which is not considered wastewater
treatment performance· Information sharing scheme from central government to municipal government and regulation
monitoring system does not exist.

● Policy and Legal framework
Events· Sub-decree 235 ensures the public health and water environment. Sludge management isregulated in sub-decree on solid waste management (1999).
· Building permit based on the construction law regulated the requested capacity regarding
the building size. But it does not consider harmonizing with sub-decree 235 based on theenvironmental law.
· Wastewater monitoring is conducted by MOE. However, monitoring is limited in industrial
wastewater and doesn’t cover the domestic wastewater.
· Building codes exists, while regulation for maintenance or emptying is not stipulated.

● Public awareness and participation
Country Reports· Each community manages decentralized wastewater properly in the limited area such as thedeveloped area in the city.
· There are opportunities for all citizens to learn about the need for wastewater treatment. E.g.)
Results from the survey of willingness to pay which MPWT has conducted in 2018.
· Building codes exists, while regulation for maintenance or emptying is not stipulated.

● Technologies

Activity Reports

Wastewater· Decentralized wastewater treatment facilities are latrine and anaerobic septic tanks. Aerobic
treatment facility has been installed in the industrial sector. There is no regulation stipulated therequirement for effluent from facilities that meet the criteria of BOD.
· There is no mechanism to collect the information about the population ratio who use the improved
facility.
· State-sponsored training courses for engineers of construction or O&M have not been introduced.
Sludge· There is no sludge treatment facility in Phnom Penh. “National Fecal Sludge Management
Guidelines for Rural Households” regulated how to treat the fecal sludge in the rural area.
· Administration deals with illegal sludge damping strictly using penalty mechanism.

● Resource recovery and reuse· Project utilizing treated fecal sludge to fertilizer has been conducted in Siem Reap.
· “National Fecal Sludge Management Guidelines for Rural Households” shows technical requests
when treated fecal sludge is converted to fertilizer.

42

Country Reports

Cambodia

● Technical expertise

Brunei· Some cities and central government conduct the technical training for their staff in charge of
wastewater treatment but the training opportunity is still very limited.
· Wastewater treatment experts from research institutions organize technical workshops fordomestic stakeholders, but it is not nationwide and regularly.

Cambodia● Private sector involvement

Indonesia· Private sector like constructors install septic tanks as a decentralized wastewater treatment
facility.
· EPC or O&M company for wastewater management exists in Cambodia but they concern mainly
industrial aerobic treatment facilities. Open pond system for graywater treatment is partiallyinstalled in Diamond island, Phnom Penh.
· Private sector can transport and empty sludge from wastewater treatment facilities nationwide.

Laos

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSMalaysia● Needs for Political Will and Institutional Reform

MyanmarThrough several taskforce meetings conducted during the PoDIWM project duration, needs forpolitical will was identified as follows:· To fully implement of Sub-Degree 235, more Prakas (detailed decision in implementation of
sub-decrees) should be prepared. Making good use of the existing law of Sub-decree 235, it isimportant to clarify the role of the institution.
· For the monitoring system, to build the network between central government and local government.
· For the awareness raising, getting involved with the citizens in wastewater management,
government should enhance understanding the necessity of the pipe connection from thehousehold, fee of collection, maintenance and treatment.
· Capacity building for every level of stakeholders as policy maker, technical engineers, operators,
users and citizens is important.
· For financial scheme, Subsidies, PPP or clean environment fund (polluter-pay basic) could be theoption to stimulate private investment.

Philippines
Thailand● Enabling Environment for Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Sludge
Management

Vietnam“Sub-Decree No. 235 on the management of drainage system and wastewater treatment system(2017)” is a key regulation for Cambodia, which was established by MOE, MPWT and MOI. It
aims to define the clear role of each ministry, the delegation of operations to local governments,
streamlining and ensuring the safety of processing systems, promoting public understanding andpublic participation, and promoting investment in development donors and the private sector.

● Disabling Environment for Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Sludge
Management
As disabling factors, several challenges were identified.
· Increasing pollution load by population expanding and industrialization· Septic tank is still mainly used in Cambodia· In Phnom Penh city, introducing centralized sewage system is a priority issue.
· Lack of capacity in technical human resource and capital resource.
· Lack of awareness of the importance of wastewater management and sludge management
CambodiaCountry Reports

43

· Lack of financial resources for R&D in wastewater domain
About PoDIWM● Selection of Appropriate Wastewater Treatment Technologies for Cambodia

In Cambodia, the selection of appropriate wastewater treatment technologies must be difficult
since the lack of technical human resources. Need a program to train engineers.

● Selection of Appropriate Sludge Treatment Technologies for Cambodia

Sludge waste from factory wastewater treatment and product manufacturing processes is
considered as hazardous waste in “Sub-Decree on Solid Waste Management (1999)”. According to
JICA study (2016), most of the septage collected by vacuum cars from the households is illegally
dumped in the drainage channels or wetlands. Since there is not enough land in cities to landfill anddispose of sludge, it is necessary to design an appropriate system for the construction of sludge
treatment plants.

Events● Business Models and Financing Mechanisms for Cost Recovery at Different Phases

PPP/PFI scheme could be an option for involving private investment. MOP negotiates with the MEF
in formulating national plans. National plan compiled by MOP submitted to MEF then MEF has arole in allocating the budget.

● Capacity Development and Awareness Raising Programs for Policy Makers

Activity Reports

Country Reports

International donors (JICA, AFD, and ADB, etc.) have respectively conducted events or seminars
to mainstream the awareness of wastewater and sanitation benefits in cooperating with MPWT.
“Advocacy for Sanitation in Phnom Penh (2017)” supported by AFD was organized to involve all
stakeholders and potential decision-makers, is one of the outstanding activities for an advocacy
argumentation and campaign.

44

Country Reports

CambodiaBrunei
Cambodia

Republic of Indonesia

Indonesia

CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTLaos

One of the government’s efforts to increase the sanitation access was putting the sanitation issue as
one of the targets in RPJMN (National Medium Term Development Plan) 2010-2014 which focusedon removing Open Defecation practice until 2014. In the next term, the Indonesian government
has issued the policy to continually improve sanitation conditions through RPJMN 2015-2019 as
stipulated in Presidential Regulation no. 2 of 2015. In this policy, the government aims to increase
public access to proper sanitation to be 100% by 2019, or also called universal access. This target
has also been stated in the Ministry of Public Work and Housing (Kementerian PUPR) regulations
No. 13.1 / PRT / M / 2015 related to the strategic plan of the Kementerian PUPR 2015 - 2019 where
the strategy to achieve this target is an increase in population health insurance for proper sanitation,
domestic wastewater and environmental drainage waste to 100% at the basic needs.
To fulfill this universal access goal, PUPR targets this achievement to be 85% of decent access and
15% of basic access. Therefore, the government continues to make efforts to achieve this target sothat the quality of the environment, especially community sanitation can be improved.
Based on Central Agency of Statistics (BPS) 2018, Indonesia already had improved access to about
75% of decent access, 16% of basic access, and 9.4% of no access for wastewater treatment, as canbe seen in the following figure.

Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines

Present situation of domestic wastewater
treatment both in urban and rural areas

7.42%
SafelyManaged
AccessVietnam

9.36%
Open
Defecation

74.58%
Improved
AccessThailand16.07%
Unimproved
AccessIndonesia

Country Reports

45

Country Reports

EventsAbout PoDIWM

Current administrative structure for decentralized wastewater management in Indonesia is shown in
the following diagram.

Activity Reports

Ministry of National Development Planning, Sanitation sub directorate:
To prepare materials for study, coordination and policy formulation of national development planning, national development
strategy, policy direction, as well as the development of the regulatory framework, institutional and financing in the sanitation
sector, and to coordinate with other stakeholders such as financing in the sanitation sector.
Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Domestic Wastewater Management Sub-Directorate:
To prepare policy formulation and implementation on the development of wastewater treatment system. To prepare technicalguidance and supervision of wastewater treatment system development.
Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Research Institute for Human Settlements, PUSKIM:
To implement research, development, technology transfer, and disseminate. To prepare Intellectual Right Properties. To dotechnical advice such as test, study, inspection and certification.
Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Domestic Wastewater Pollution Control Sub-Directorate:
To prepare materials on policy formulation and implementation in the domestic waste pollution control sector. To preparematerials on the formulation of norms, standards, procedures, and criteria in the domestic waste pollution control sector. To
supervise or implement any matter related to domestic waste pollution control in the local.
Ministry of Health, Water and Basic Sanitation Health Sub-Directorate:
To formulate and implement the regulation on water and basic sanitation. To prepare material for technical guidance andpartnership, monitoring, evaluation, monitoring and reporting.
Ministry of Home Affairs, Drinking Water, Wastewater, and Sanitation Sub-Directorate:
To formulate and implement the regulation on drinking water, wastewater, and sanitation. To Preparing material for generalbuilding management, technical guidance and supervision.

46

Country Reports

Indonesia

Brunei

The urban daily water consumption per capita is ranging from 90 liters/day to 190 liters/day.
Assuming average consumption of 120 liters/day and 80% of the water becomes wastewater, thewastewater production per capita would be 96 liters/day. Concerning the high urban population inIndonesia, the volume of wastewater is high and would be harmful to the environment and humanhealth if not safely treated.
By the end of 2018, Indonesia has reached 2% of off-site treatment system, 88.6% of on-sitewastewater treatment system, and the rest was still open defecation. Off-site treatment system isconsidered to be safely-treated wastewater, while on-site system still needs to look further into thedetailed management itself.
In the on-site wastewater treatment system, only 5.4% of the total wastewater treatment safelytreated, considering proper containment, desludging system, and appropriate transported septage
system. The fact is, 7.6% was simply uncontained, 32.9% was contained but does not desludged,
12.5% un-transported fecal sludge, and 30.3% has been desludged but then dumped into river/drainage.
In total, 16.1% of the population in Indonesia has unimproved access and 9.4% of people (almost 25
million people) still do open defecation practice.

Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines
Thailand
Vietnam

In terms of sludge treatment, public septage treatment has been built in 281 regencies/cities out of a
total 514 regencies/cities in Indonesia. 103 facilities are already operated though the rest are still not
operated yet, due to lack of sludge input. Scheduled desludging service is promoted by connecting theseptic tank control and septage management.

Indonesia

Country Reports

47

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE
About PoDIWM● Legislation on domestic wastewater treatment:

National regulation exists and is enforced at the sub-national level.

● Legislation on sludge treatment:

Legislation of sludge management exists and has been applied in city/regency scale, but thelegislation of sludge treatment is not included yet.

● Policy and program for domestic wastewater management:

Establishment of National Working Group – “POKJA” to consider domestic wastewater policies andprograms until regency/city level.

● Effluent standards:

EventsNational regulation exists and enforced at the sub-national level. However, the monitoring system
has not been implemented widely in all cities.

● Standard on treatment performance testing methods:

Treatment performance method was already established and recently being upgraded, further
processed to be a national standard.

● Financial mechanism and cost recovery:
Country Reports

Financial mechanism and cost recovery is under each local government’s policy.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS● Development of national level law governing wastewater

Activity Reports

The Central Government is rapidly developing the national wastewater sector regulatory frameworkand target to improve the sector performance; however, the implementation is still facing
challenges. There is a need to develop national level law governing wastewater because the current
regulation is at the ministerial level.

● Local Government Difficulties to comply with the Required Effluent Standard

After the Central Government issued the new and strict regulation of effluent standard, local
Government needs to update technologies, increase the O&M budget, increase the number ofskilled human resources, and provide reliable WWTP operation and maintenance procedures.

● Development of Services Provision Performance Monitoring

Local governments face difficulties in providing safely managed wastewater services to follow
the existing performance monitoring evaluation scheme. Moreover, the reporting mechanism isoutdated, and as a result, not all Local Government reports are the most recent/updated/sent backto the Central Government.

● Updating procedure for building permit

Building permit system requires to submit the design of the wastewater treatment/ containment
system. For office or commercial buildings, the wastewater treatment plant is monitored effectively.
However, for households with an onsite system, the monitoring mechanism before the issuance isstill ineffective; hence, some households construct their septic tank not following the standard.

48

Country Reports

Indonesia

Brunei● Implementation of management of greywater in on-site system

Most households use septic tanks that do not follow the standard design criteria which only treats
blackwater, meanwhile the graywater is directly discharged to the water body.

Cambodia● Development of a national policy on fecal sludge service

Indonesia

Promotion of fecal sludge treatment including regularly desludging is essential. Separation between
operator and regulator, and budget allocation for sludge management is indispensable. There is arisk of contamination of the water body and groundwater due to illegal sludge dumping. Utilizationof the treated water and solids still low since there is no specific guidance on resource recovery.

● Development of scheme on various fecal sludge desludging fees

There is technical guidance from the ministry regarding the tariff, but is not yet on the regulatorylevel; therefore, tariff levels and tariff structures vary at local government level. The tariffmechanisms should suit to recover the O&M Cost.

Laos● Development of uniform monitoring and evaluation mechanism for domestic wastewater

Malaysia

Monitoring implementation for household-scale is hindered due to: interlevel miscoordination, no
uniform monitoring mechanism, and limited budget. As a result, mostly only city-scale WWTPs andselected residential-scale WWTPs are checked by the Local Governments.

● Management of knowledge in the sanitation field

MyanmarThere is a demand for knowledge management for the community-based wastewater management.
It is expected to clear up the confusion because the community will know where to consult about
the technical aspect of wastewater treatment systems and to increase more in-depth knowledge
about sanitation. Knowledge management to share and increase awareness in the wastewatersector, currently available for operators, regulators, and service providers.

Philippines● Development of private sector participation model

Thailand

Policy on private sector participation can cover community-based service provision, service
providers, and private sector investment in wastewater sector development. Public sector
involvement model should be considered in policy making to promote efficiency and create theconditions for accountability and effective service provision at local government level.

VietnamIndonesia

Country Reports49

About PoDIWM

Lao People's
Democratic Republic
CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTCountry Reports

EventsDomestic wastewater generation in Vientiane capital has been increased by urban area population
increasing.
Criteria for water quality of wastewater discharge per type of building has been regulated byEnvironmental Protection Law (EPL).
Decentralized system has been introduced in 25 areas in Laos. It is introduced to high-density
housing area in some provinces or residential areas that use drainage channels connected to Hong in
Vientiane city.
Decentralized system will be introduced to Bokeo Province, Bolikhamxay Province, Khammouane
Province, Luang Namtha Province.
Japanese firm is applying to JICA for the budget to introduce Kind Integrated Digestion Strand (KIDS).
When it is decided to introduce KIDS, it will be installed beside the cafeteria on the university campus.
(National University of Laos)
Government of Vientiane capital has scheduled to monitor the water quality of effluent, river anddrainage in Vientiane city.

Challenges to be considered to improve wastewater management:

Activity Reports

Master plan to install centralized wastewater treatment in central Vientiane city has been made by thedonor of Hungary. However total plan for other areas including sub-urban area of Vientiane city and thedecentralized system is not yet made.
Building code for decentralized wastewater treatment facility has been regulated by the Ministry of Public
Works and Transportation (MPWT), but its regulation is not designed to meet the criteria of EPL.
DPWT of Vientiane capital has been recognized to improve immediately the regulation for decentralized
wastewater treatment facility. Thus, the core-challenge of central and local governments are making thepolicy roadmap to improve the decentralized wastewater treatment.

50

Country Reports

Laos

BruneiOrganization Chart of Seleted Gournment Agencies

Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental- Department of Water Resources- Department of Pollution Control- Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat- Natural Resources and Environment Research Institute- Natural Resources and Environment Data and Information CenterIndonesia

Prime minister

Cambodia

Ministry of Public Works and Transport- Department of Water Supply- Department of Housing and Urban Planning

Laos

Ministry of Health- Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion- Water Supply (Nam Saat) and Environmental Hygiene Center

Malaysia

Minisitry of Agriculture and Forestry- Integrated Watershed Management Unit (IWMU)- Department of Irrigation (DoI)- Department of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF)
Ministry of Planning and Investment- Department of Planning- Department of Inspection

MyanmarOrganization Chart of Selected Government Agency related to water resource,wastewater andsanitation.

Philippines· MPWT: the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, supervised nationwide wastewater treatment service.
· MONRE: the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, supervised waterbody and water environment.
· DPWT: the Department of Public Works and Transport of each province, issues the building permit of the decentralized domestic
wastewater treatment facility.
· DONRE: the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of each province, do the water inspection.
· DHHP: the Department of Health and Hygiene Promotion regulates the wastewater discharge in the outside area of the city.
· UDAAs: the Urban Development Administrative Authorities have gradually been established in Vientiane Capital and four
secondary towns (Luang Prabang, Thakhek, Savannakhet and Pakse) to improve urban management. VCOMS, Vientiane City
Office for Management and Services being named to a public service organization in UDAA of Vientiane Capital is in charge ofacceptance the desludging company or O&M of the sludge treatment plant.

Thailand
VietnamCurrent legal situation in Laos:“Environmental Protection Law (EPL) “stipulates water quality standards and responsibilities fordecentralized domestic wastewater.
“New Agreement on Building Management No.2241” stipulates building standards.
“Agreement of Management Septic Tank Emptying Service” stipulates sludge treatment management
system.
Major stakeholders of domestic wastewater treatment are shown below. The role sharing of gray water
O&M has not been decided.

Laos

Country Reports

51

Events

About PoDIWM

Basic major stakeholders in Laos for wastewater management

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Basic major stakeholders in Laos for Decentralized O&M

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE● Institutional effectiveness· The role and responsibility of the wastewater are clarified by Environmental protection law. Civil
also have the responsibility of the polluter pay principle.
· MONRE and MPWT and MoI co-operate in the modification of EPL etc.
· However, responsibility for graywater management is not enough. Also, continued cooperation
scheme of each organization is lack.

● Policy and Legal framework· Environmental protection law defines the polluter pay principle being imposed on citizens in that
article. And environmental standards are regulated as sub-decree of EPL. This is a very importantdriver.
· However the facilities regulated by this latest regulation cannot secure the quality of discharged
water as defined in EPL. For this reason, regulations concerning facilities that can guarantee thequality of discharged water that satisfies the standard value are required.

52

Country Reports

Laos

● Public awareness and participation

Brunei· According to a past questionnaire survey to study the willingness to pay for drainage water
purification and domestic wastewater management, civil living near drainage showed a highwillingness to pay for the water treatment. However the fee amount for wastewater treatment isonly 4,000 Kip (equally 0.45USD) per month.
· Education for the neediness of wastewater treatment in schools or workplaces is highly needed.

Cambodia● Technologies

Indonesia· Most households in the city area use septic tank or latrines and households in rural area use
latrines or communal latrines.
· F/S of high-performance decentralized wastewater treatment system has been done in limitedbuildings in Phongsaly province.
· F/S to improve the decentralized system that contains aerobic treatment tank with media will be
conducted in Lao University supported by JICA.
· Framework for assessment of decentralized wastewater treatment facility is lacking.

Laos● Private sector involvement

Malaysia· Sludge was collected by the private sector in Vientiane city and sludge treatment plant operation
will be done by the public company.
· NGO BORDA has been done coaching service for municipal government staff or private sector.
· High-performance decentralized wastewater treatment system was controlled by an engineering
private company.
· Scheme to drive investment for decentralized wastewater treatment facilities like fee collection
and local bond is lacking.

Myanmar

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Philippines● Needs for Political Will and Institutional Reform

Thailand

Although the regulations have been enacted for discharge standards for domestic wastewater andthe officials of each ministry have been described, coordination between ministries is insufficient.
Needs for Political Will are as follows:· Ministries are working independently and their roles are not separated clearly.
· It is necessary to upgrade of “decentralized wastewater facility standard” to satisfy the water
quality criteria.
· We should take measures for graywater as a priority. Because gray water is not treated at all while
black water is controlled to some extent.
· Capacity building is needed to develop the capacity to run the system of domestic wastewater
management.
· It is necessary to clarify the role of O&M in centralized wastewater treatment facilities and do thecapacity development of its implementers.
· Establish the financing scheme for the installation of domestic wastewater treatment facilities
that can meet the effluent standard.

Vietnam● Enabling Environment for Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Sludge
Management
The Vientiane city's domestic wastewater (graywater and overflow of the septic tank or pit latrine)
flows out into the drainage called ”Hong”. Citizens require the administration to improve the living
environment around this drainage channel. It is still considered to hardly introduce the decentralized
wastewater treatment facilities that meet effluent standards due to budget constraints.
Laos

Country Reports53

About PoDIWM

Surround the drainage channel will be enabling environment for integrated decentralized domestic
wastewater management but it may be needed to consider with the collaboration of centralized
project of Hungarian project. As the direction of collaboration, methods for cascaded installation offacilities that is as follows.
· Introducing a decentralized sewage treatment facility to each location and changing it to a pumpstation in accordance with the introduction of sewage· Promoting the decentralized wastewater treatment facilities that can also treat gray water in thearea where the installation time of sewage is the latest● Selection of Appropriate Wastewater Treatment Technologies

EventsIn Vientiane city, the centralized sewage system takes feasibility study has been carried out.
Japanese firm also carried out the technical feasibility study. The facility certification system tosatisfy the water quality criteria should be developed accompanying with the regulated performance
testing method.

● Selection of Appropriate Sludge Treatment Technologies for Targeted Country

Wetland method in KM21 treatment plant will be the model case nationwide. It is expected topromote the methods for cost recovery and technology in the country.

● Business Models and Financing Mechanisms for Cost Recovery at Different Phases

Country Reports

Local bonds have not been issued for the wastewater sector and are not listed as targets for PFI
projects in Laos.
However, according to the interview for MPI in June 2019, it has expanded the scope of PPP
projects in Laos since 2019. There is room for consideration of financing mechanisms utilizing
private funds.
Establishing the stable fee collection system from community and household is essential to operate
the system sustainably by enhancement of public awareness and participation.

● Capacity Development and Awareness Raising Programs for Policy Makers

Activity Reports

Capacity development may be highly recommended policy proposal. Installation of decentralized
wastewater treatment facility continues to be mainstream of wastewater treatment method. But themeasures ensuring the performance of treatment are not enough. Capacity development trainingis necessary to realize the system design that includes Performance test and effluent standard
expansion.

54

Country Reports

Laos

Brunei
Cambodia

Malaysia

Indonesia

CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTLaos

The need for improvement in the sewerage systems became stronger in the 1980s after theEnvironmental Quality Regulations were enacted in 1979. Technological advancements included theintroduction of full secondary treatment via mechanized sewage treatment plants (STPs). There
are various types of mechanized STPs ranging from the conventional activated sludge to extended
aeration, rotating biological contactors and trickling filters. Mechanized STPs capable of providing fullsecondary treatment are far superior to the other systems. These mechanized plants greatly improved
treatment performance, reducing BOD from 200-400 mg/l to 10-30 mg/l.

Malaysia
Myanmar

The evolution of treatment processes from primitive to primary and then to secondary systems
was mainly due to the development of technologies in the sewerage industry. The evolution has
also involved the movement from non-mechanical systems to more mechanical and automatedsystems. New and improved equipment has also been continuously introduced due to technologicaladvancements. Over time, this has increased the expectations regarding environmental standards andthe skill level in the design, construction and operations of new sewerage works.

Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam

Organization Chart of Selected Government Agency

Malaysia

Country Reports

55

Events

About PoDIWM

Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS):
KATS is responsible for Water, Land and Natural Resources Management such as Water and wastewater management from source
to end use, Irrigation and drainage management, and Sewerage Services
National Water Services Commission under KATS:
To implement and enforce the water supply and sewerage services laws and to consider and recommend reforms to the watersupply and sewerage services laws. To ensure the national development goals pertaining to coverage, supply and access to watersupply and sewerage services are achieved. To formulate and implement a plan to ensure all reasonable demands for sewerage
services are satisfied and in consultation with the relevant authorities.
Sewerage Services Department under KATS:
To promote the smooth implementation of suitable and modern sewerage system throughout the country according to the
stipulated standards. To ensure the successful and satisfactory implementation of privatization projects.
Department of Environment under Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC, currently
MOSTI):
To manage the industries discharging sewage, industrial effluent and leachate are required to comply with the following relevant
discharge limits as stipulated in their respective regulations. To manage the Sewage discharge standards, Industrial effluent
discharge limits.
Indah Water Konsortium owned by Ministry of Finance (Incorporated):
To provide scheduled operation and maintenance of public sewers, network pumping stations and public STPs. To provide
corrective and preventive maintenance of public sewers, STPs and sludge treatment facilities to meet the regulatory requirements.
To perform scheduled desludging services for septic tanks on government premises and demand desludging for septic tank users.

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Meanwhile, the centralized wastewater treatment system known as STP was identified in the seweragecatchment study to cater for sewerage catchment area. It is costly to build and operate especiallyin areas where population densities are low and dispersed household conditions. On top of that, thedecentralized domestic wastewater treatment system is worldwide usage. The sewerage system in
Malaysia comprises a mix of centralized system and decentralized systems.

Profile of the Malaysian Sewerage System in 2016 and 2017
Multi-point Plant: STPs to cater for sporadic and scattered development by different developers
Regional Plant: STPs identified in the sewerage catchment study to cater for a sewerage catchment area.

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE● Legislation and Policy Frameworks

National guidelines are nationwide standardization of sewerage infrastructure requirements. It isan established system to ensure sewage treatment plants are designed and built to the required
quality to meet health and safety as well as environmental and operational requirements.

56

Country Reports

Malaysia

● Technical and Technological Aspects

Brunei

The current technologies used for decentralized wastewater treatment system are individual
septic tank (IST) and small sewage treatment system (SSTS). The IST is for 5 to 30 PE (1.1256.750 m³/day). According to Malaysia Sewerage Industry Guidelines Volume 5, the IST is regarded
as temporary treatment system. The product must be approved by SPAN and complying with thedetermined effluent standard. Desludging activities must be provided by the registered desludging
contractor.
As for SSTS, it is designed for 31 to 149 PE (6.975-33.525 m³/day). The usage of SSTS is limited
to the development with lower population size when compared to STP. The treatment principles of
SSTS are the same as septic tank with additional aeration process at the second tank for removalof BOD and same as sewage treatment plant but only have critical function to provide partial
treatment. Besides, SSTS only involves low energy and technology application.

Cambodia
Indonesia● Sludge Treatment/Processing

Laos

Sludge treatment involved both non-mechanised and mechanised systems. Non-mechanised
processes are geobags, sludge lagoon and drying bed while mechanised processes are belt press,
centrifuge decanter and filter press.

Malaysia● Financial Aspects

Myanmar

Water Services Industry Act offers a resolution to critical issues for the sewerage industry such as
billings & collection, refusal for individual septic tank, desludging service and maintenance of small
sewage treatment plants. The sewerage services financial performance is only confined to IWK and
MAJAARI as other operators does not charge their customers nor have a clear segregation of costs
for the provision of the sewerage services.

● Social-Economic Aspects

Philippines

Commercial viability ultimately depended on consumer willingness to pay, and the non-paymentof tariffs. The federal government apparently accepted the survey results despite the previous
reluctance of state governments to finance sewerage improvements through higher charges forfear of public opposition. The initial tariff structure met with opposition from household customers
whom the government hoped to cross-subsidize. More crucially, commercial/industrial customers
rejected the substantial tariff increases needed to cross subsidize households. Subsequent
rejections of revised tariff rates suggest that fundamental opposition to the ‘user pays’ principle
remained.

Thailand

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Vietnam● Institutional arrangement and legal framework· National Physical Plan proposed to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment byimplementing modern technologies and sustainable environmentally friendly approach to provide
treated effluent, especially for sensitivity area.
· Strengthening Regulatory Framework to improve effective implementation and enforcement of theacts.
· Gazettement of National Sewerage Catchment Plan based on permanent framework to develop
local sewerage development plan and to address matters pertaining to sewerage planning.
· Guidelines-Mechanism of property connection to improve the implementation of connection
between decentralized and centralized systems.
· To appoint the facility licensee in accordance with WSIA to oversee sewerage asset planning anddevelopment with more effectively in terms of resource optimisation and financial sustainability.
Malaysia

Country Reports57

About PoDIWM· To enhance capacity building for effective decentralized wastewater management through theintroduction of structured training and certification program for desludging services operators.
· To treat all sludge/septage at a public sludge acceptance center approved by the regulator before
final disposal or reuse.
· SPAN and Desludging Service Operators to establish cooperation and collaboration with Local
Authorities/Municipalities to mandate septic tank desludging as a requirement for renewal of
business licenses for commercial premises.

● Technology

Country Reports

Events· To adopt the Product certification process for decentralized wastewater treatment system/septic
tanks.
· To improve the standard and guidelines and prioritize the use of technology for decentralized
wastewater system according to the environmentally sensitive area and/or water catchment area.
· To implement the technical specification for resource recovery (bio-solids and bio-effluent).
· To impose use of advanced septic tank or decentralized wastewater system for new development(<150PE) in water catchment areas.
· To expand the availability of more comprehensive and complete database to ease desludging
services operations such as on-site real time capture of actual field data, records of desludging
activities, disposal of sludge and services rendered.
· To explore the usage of sustainable technology such as constructed or riparian wetland system
for treatment and polishing of effluent discharge from the decentralized system in prioritizedexisting development areas.

● Finance

Activity Reports· OPEX will be influenced by tariff setting. Revise New tariff setting as the current sewerage charges
is too low and not sustainable. Implementation of a sustainable tariff for desludging services upon
approval of the revised tariff by the government.
· Investment of sewerage for CAPEX is significantly developer driven but government plays a role interms of environmental friendly and sustainable approach.
· Joint billing of water and sewerage is already implemented in Labuan (2016) and Terengganu(2020). Implement in other states progressively.
· Government to allocate fund for investment for interceptor system or/and constructed wetland forexisting sensitive and/or water catchment areas served by the decentralized systems· The implementation of the revised tariff, desludging rules and joint billing will enforce theresponsibility of home owners to ensure their septic tank is desludged. It will be suggested thatthe home owner will have options of payment method (installment/one-off) according to theiraffordability.
· PPP to be encouraged for the sustainable business model to promote reclamation and reuse ofeffluent and recycling of biosolids.

● Public awareness and participation· To establish advocacy and rewards programs on sewerage services operator, for example,“Desludge and Win” Contest.
· To promote public health and sanitation in a neighborhood emphasizing the importance to beconnected to the centralized system or choose a better IST technology to be installed.
· To create an appropriate scheduled desludging notices and reminders for the owner by utilizing
the appropriate technology available.

58

Country Reports

Malaysia

Brunei
Cambodia

Republic of the Unionof Myanmar

Indonesia

CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Ventilated
Improved
pit latrine

Pit Latrinewith slab

Composting
toilet

Total

53.9
74.3
69.4
76.8
75.0
41.6
42.8
20.6
68.1
77.1
69.3
85.8
71.5
65.0
86.8
55.3
46.7

0.9
1.7
0.7
4.2
0.4
3.9
6.0
0.1
0.6
1.4
0.0
0.8
1.3
0.0
0.5
1.9
0.2

92.10
81.20
73.50
86.90
91.20
48.10
68.40
92.10
85.70
83.10
79.90
88.50
84.10
91.00
90.90
84.30
93.90

3.6
0.0

32.3
6.0

4.8
3.1

53.5
69.8

0.3
1.4

94.50
80.30

Vietnam

5.7
0.4
1.2
5.6
12.9
1.6
3.6
0.4
5.0
0.9
0.8
1.3
4.3
8.5
1.5
6.4
0.9

Thailand

31.6
4.8
2.2
0.3
2.9
1.0
16.0
71.0
11.7
3.7
9.6
0.6
7.0
17.5
2.1
20.7
38.8

Philippines

0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.3
0.0
0.2
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
7.3

MyanmarState/Region
Kachin
Kayah
Kayin
Chin
Mon
RakhineShan(North)Shan(East)
Shan(South)
Ayeyarwaddy
Bago(East)
Bago(West)Magwe
Mandalay
Sagaing
Tanintharyai
Yangon
Area
Urban
Rural

Malaysia

Flush/pour ﬂush to:
Piped
sewer
Septicsystemtank

Laos

Technology upgrading and installation of wastewater treatment facility are actively in Yangon. There
are projects like development of wastewater treatment master plan and expansion of centralized
wastewater treatment system by 2027.
Touring spot like Inle Lake has been going to install the high-performance facility like Johkasou.
However, households in other urban area and rural area still use pit latrine or septic tank. Septic tankor pit latrine with slab are the most popular facility as an improved sanitation facility.

Miltiple Indicator Cluster survey(DOH)(2009-2010)

MyanmarCountry Reports59About PoDIWM
EventsAdministrative Structure for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Facility

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Department of Meteorology and Hydrology: Water Assessment of major rivers Data Collection and analysis
Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems:
Ensuring sage navigation on rivers and creeks; protecting the river systems for the beneficial utilization of the public, monitoring ofwater quality river training, river dredging, navigation, river bank protection and river water quality monitoring
Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department:
Provision of irrigation water to farmland, and monitoring of water quality irrigation water supply, construction, operation andmaintenance of irrigation dams and flood protection embankments, agriculture water quality monitoring, and Pump irrigation andrural water supply
Forest Department: Reforestation and Conservation of Forests
Environmental Conservation Department: National Environmental Conservation related activities
Department of Hydroelectric Power: Hydropower Generation
Department of Health: Environmental Health, Water quality assessment and control, monitoring water quality
Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development: Domestic water supply
City Development Committees: City water supply and sanitation, water conservation and protection works
Myanmar Engineering Society: Water resources management related activities, especially consultation
Technology University: Training and ResearchTownship Level: Organizing water needs, conservancy needs

CHALLENGES TO BE CONSIDERED TO IMPROVE WASTEWATERMANAGEMENT
Wastewater regulation on national level has been still developed and not yet implemented.
Waste management act on national level has just been implemented and wastewater and water
quality management on national level regulation will be implemented.
High-performance treatment facility is going to be installed in some areas by the private companies
like hotel, but O&M of facility is one of challenges to keep the treatment performance.
O&M training for high-performance treatment facility like Johkasou has been introduced in YCDC by
Japanese private company through JICA‘s technical support.
MWEP (Myanmar Water Engineering & Products Co., Ltd.) has been conducting the training course formunicipal government staff.

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MyanmarASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE
Brunei● Institutional effectivenessLack of organizational structures for wastewater management in rural areas, responsibility forgraywater management, and Active cooperation scheme for various stakeholders

Cambodia● Policy and Legal framework

Lack of wastewater effluent discharge standards as law, regulations for monitoring system fordomestic wastewater, and regulations for O&M

Indonesia● Public awareness and participation

Lack of community-led or government-initiated wastewater management system for decentralized
wastewater facilities, and willingness for recycling and reuse of the treated wastewater● Technologies

Laos

Wastewater
Lack of treatment efficiency, affordability of citizens, and knowledge for management ofwastewater facilities
SludgeLack of appropriate and enough sludge treatment technology, and private sector who can provide
sludge emptying service

Malaysia● Resource recovery and reuse

MyanmarLack of willingness to reuse and recycling of the treated wastewater, and market demand● Technical expertise

Philippines

Lack of coordination between the university and government, and certification system for theskilled engineer or operator● Private sector involvement

Lack of O&M service provider for the decentralized system, and Applied case of PFI scheme forwastewater management

Thailand

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Vietnam● Needs for Political Will and Institutional Reform· Establishment of environmental standards and monitoring system and laboratory (by ECD).
· Education for the citizens about the environment is expected in the future. It would be helpfulthat sharing measures what kind of education and how to explain the importance of wastewater
management (by YCDC).
· Development of research level from academic research to the working level and to expand
technical personnel (by MTU).
· Importance of increase of data by pilot local study and survey, clarifying the role of multistakeholders, designing master plan through nationwide, awareness raising of civil, and low-cost
technology (by MOC).
· Wastewater penetration to the groundwater from the septic tank is one of a challenge to solve (by
NPTDC).
MyanmarCountry Reports61

About PoDIWM

To ensure the treatment performance of decentralized wastewater facilities, it is considered that
inspection for installed facilities by local administration shall be more strictly and formulate theinspection methodology and decision standards.

● Enabling Environment for Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Sludge
Management
Residential land development is progressing in Mandalay City and the suburbs of Yangon, and theneed for sewage treatment facilities is increasing. Appropriate sludge treatment as a part of waste
management should be considered at both national and local government level.

● Disabling Environment for Integrated Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Sludge
Management
Events

It is possible to discuss the maintenance and management of septic tanks and the introduction of
the septic tank law in cities such as Yangon, but it is difficult to set countrywide standards in thecurrent domestic situation. Strengthen Regulations and policy framework on the maintenance andmanagement of septic tanks necessary. It is needed to legalize wastewater discharge standard thenintroduce the monitoring system, which is highly important to control water quality. Subsequently, it
is necessary to establish technical standards for realizing wastewater discharge regulations.

● Selection of Appropriate Wastewater Treatment Technologies

Country Reports

Decentralized system including Johkasou have been installed in Yangon and other cities but
these are limited to some advanced buildings or facilities. Maintenance and inspection of those
wastewater treatment facilities will be done by the trained maintenance team of DAIGO-Sangyo
from Japan and the team of engineers trained from Osaka city, Hiyoshi Co., Ltd., and HORIBA Co.,
Ltd. Certification system for products and engineers is requisite accompanying with the education/
training.

● Selection of Appropriate Sludge Treatment Technologies

Activity Reports

In the current state of Myanmar, several sludge treatment methods are taken. In the future, it isconsidered desirable to select sludge treatment technology according to the local status, but two
major methods can be considered roughly.
As Nay Pyi Taw DC and Yangon CDC chose, one of the choices is that the sludge extracted fromthe septic tank and latrine is put into the terminal treatment plant and treated. Another choice is as
Mandalay CDC chose; oxidation pond method will be the one choice.

● Business Models and Financing Mechanisms for Cost Recovery at Different Phases

For the financing mechanism utilizing private funds such as PPP/PFI scheme, November 2018, a
project bank (Project Bank) was established by the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MOPF) andissued. The scope of the project bank would be expanded for the wastewater sector.
Private finance schemes is not very much popular, but there is room for consideration to use such
scheme for wastewater treatment facilities.
To establish a stable fee collection system, public awareness raising is indispensable.

● Capacity Development and Awareness Raising Programs for Policy Makers

Capacity development program is one of the important activities for Myanmar. Although various
wastewater treatment technologies come from China, Korea, Japan, Europe, etc. to Myanmar, it
has not been possible that the local government staff could not estimate exactly how much willcontribute to its performance and the solution of wastewater treatment problems. It is extremely
important to evaluate these technologies and proceed with the optimal technology introduction.

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MyanmarBrunei
Cambodia

Republic of thePhilippines

Indonesia

CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Laos

Much of the surface water in most large urban centers in the Philippines comprises rivers that posea public health risk due to levels of coliform bacteria such as in all rivers in Manila. Many beaches
in Manila Bay, especially those along the eastern side, also have levels of bacteria that imposes a
significant health risk to those using the bay for transport, fishing, or bathing. As per reports, 95%of the wastewater from urban households flows into groundwater, public canals, drainage systems,
rivers, and other water bodies, either directly, or after only receiving minor treatment in poorly designed
or maintained septic tanks. Effluents from domestic wastewater usually find its way to street drainage
systems or seep through the ground. The lack of proper domestic wastewater treatment greatly
impacts the quality of groundwater, surface waters and coastal and marine waters. Improperly treateddomestic wastewater discharges can also cause waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera anddysentery. Based on 2005 data, sanitation-related economic losses in the Philippines amount to P78
billion annually.

Malaysia
MyanmarVietnam

Country Reports

ThailandPhilippines

Philippines

There are challenges in implementing a wide-scale sanitation improvement in the Philippines because
sanitation programs are expensive. However, there have been efforts in recent years to promote
improved sanitation from which best practices can be built upon and replicated. One such effort is theprivatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems of its water supply and sanitation
services. For some local government units, decentralized domestic wastewater management systemis the alternative approach due to its low funding and technical requirement compared to centralized
systems. Decentralized wastewater management is defined as collection, treatment and reuse ofwastewater at or near its source of generation. Decentralized system is a client-centered approachthat aims at introducing and designing the most appropriate combination of wastewater treatment
technologies based on the needs of clients, considering their objectives, local conditions and financial
means. It recognizes that one of the shortcomings of centralized systems is that they often leave
users without any control over the provision of the service. Economic, environmental and social
aspects such as affordability, functionality, reliability and financial and environmental soundness arefurther enabling sustainability of the decentralized system.

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About PoDIWM
EventsCountry Reports

Domestic wastewater management has many stakeholders from different national and local
government agencies which had a mandate to implement policies relating to sewerage and sewage.
The legal framework for domestic wastewater management in the Philippines is provided by thevarious national laws described further within this report. Central and local governments havelaunched numerous programs to improve the sanitation sector in the Philippines. National Sewerage
and Sanitation Program by the Department of Public Works and Highways and The National Sewage
and Septage Management Program (NSSMP) to provide financial support and technical assistanceto local governments to catalyze the development of new projects are two key programs. Alongside,
local governments partner with water districts and/or private partners in planning sanitation projects.

Activity Reports

Despite the efforts, both urban and rural Philippines facechallenges in sanitation. In Metro Manila, only about 15%of the households have access to fully piped sewerage.
The remainder relies on septic tanks or pit latrines. In rural
areas, the priority concern is the lack of potable water,which is generally prioritized over sanitation. This is further
compounded with the lack of drainage infrastructure andelectrification in rural areas, which impact the type ofinterventions in the development of sanitation systems.
Thus, rural communities should first meet the basic
sanitation requirements of installing toilet in their homes,
proper design of latrines or preventing open defecation.
For most of Metro Manila and other urban centers in the Philippines, around 80% of households
have installed septic tanks as a source of primary treatment for domestic wastewater. Through the
adoption of affordable strategies utilizing combined systems and storm overflow interceptors, theconcessionaires are accelerating coverage and are currently targeting full coverage by the end of theconcession period. Currently, sewerage and sanitation services are being provided to over 13 million
people of the national capital region, through over 50 sewerage treatment facilities and five septage
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Philippines

Bruneitreatment facilities. Common sewage and septage treatment technologies used include Anaerobic
Baffled Reactor, anaerobic digestion in treatment lagoons, chemical conditioning and dewatering withlagoon or activated sludge treatment, chemical stabilization with hydrated lime and effluent treatment
with lagoons, anaerobic digestion and composting with municipal solid waste, waste stabilization
ponds and engineered reed bed.

Cambodia

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE

Indonesia

The national government, local governments and water districts of the Philippines contributesignificantly to drive the country’s sanitation sector through planning and setting goals (ex. Water
Supply and Sanitation Master Plan), rationally allocating resources (ex. Unified Financing Framework),
providing subsidies, setting standards, etc. However, limited resources, weak law enforcement, poor
coordination, inadequate capacity, low awareness and other factors still slow down the sector’s
development. Against this backdrop, the performance of available domestic wastewater treatment
technologies is assessed through a series of site specific and technology-option specific criteria.
Effluent standards are important in such performance evaluation. The same standard applies totreated wastewater from a centralized septage treatment facility and from a decentralized wastewater
treatment system. Outcomes of performance evaluation of some existing system is further discussed
in the report. Apart from that, the performance can be assessed through the sector’s contribution to
the reuse of wastewater, biogas recovery. Generated sludge is treated and processed for reuse in corn,sugarcane and mango farms as soil conditioners in lahar-affected areas in Tarlac and Pampanga.
Between 2006 and 2008, approximately 49,000 m³ of biosolids were applied. The volume of biosolidsdelivered to these nutrient-poor areas has tremendously helped in improving the soil fertility of theseonce barren areas.

Laos
Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines

Financing and cost-recovery of the decentralized system are achieved by several means. Subsidies
and grants are important features in most of the financing mechanisms since they provide viability
gap funding. Subsidies and grants may come from the national government and from the local
government. An example of a national government subsidy is the one granted through its NSSMP
which provides 50% subsidy to the local government that has been approved and passed its
application for subsidy. Meanwhile, some water districts are looking into the private sector as apotential partner in its sanitation projects. Cost-recovery is usually achieved through fixed fees, users’
fee included in water bills, real estate tax or business permit and user’s fee for private sector ownersof septage facilities.
Donors provided the initial funding to jumpstart the conduct feasibility studies of several sanitation
projects in the Philippines. These grants came from USAID, ADB, World Bank, and GTZ, to name afew. Private initiatives are also encouraged thru partnership with the local government so that theoperations of the treatment facility complies with the existing ordinance in the city or municipality.

Thailand
Vietnam

The results from the fact-findings indicated that centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment
technologies can be complementary solutions in achieving the sustainable development goals in
wastewater and sanitation. However, there are gaps in implementing decentralized wastewater
treatment technologies because of the lack of implementing rules and guidelines from the national/
local government, lack of toolkits to aid local implementers in their decision-making, and lack offinancing and cost recovery mechanisms for decentralized systems.

Philippines

Country Reports

65

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
About PoDIWM

Short term

● Revisions to the Septic Tank Design and Construction Guidelines by the DOH and strict
implementation of the guidelines

The Department of Health (DOH) has finalized the revisions to Chapter 17 of the Sanitation Codethat pertains to the standards and guidelines for sewage and septage facilities. This includes an
updated standards/guidelines for the septic tank design, construction and maintenance for new
installations. However, these standards should also incorporate guidelines in upgrading existing
septic tanks to be compliant with the new standards.

● Building a Strong Partnership Network
EventsMulti-sector partnership and network of public agencies), private sector, academic groups, service
providers, professional associations and other related groups and institutions, for collaborating on
knowledge sharing and improvement, funding, improved services, business opportunities, researchand innovation, peer learning, and stakeholder engagement. Linkages with industries, trade andfarmer associations should be explored and strengthened for optimum reuse of wastewater andbiosolids.
Necessary platforms can be established such as periodic conferences, workshops, summits,meetings, events, and other regular interaction among various stakeholders and partners forknowledge sharing, peer-learning, information dissemination.

Country Reports● Guidelines for the Selection of Appropriate Wastewater Management and Treatment
Technologies

Many available wastewater technologies in the market today would immensely help the local
implementers to have selection guidelines on how to select the type of wastewater treatment
technology well-suited to the quality and quantity of wastewater generated onsite. The selection
tool for ASEAN decision-makers are provided by this PoDIWM project, and it will be useful for easierbuy-in of the technology by the local executives.

Middle term

● Hybrid solution for the implementation of decentralized system

Activity Reports

Since having a centralized sewage/septage management systems is investment intensive, local
governments may choose to initiate the implementation of the decentralized system in selectedpriority areas such as highly-densed areas with high traffic and/or narrow roads, communities
near bodies of water, subdivisions and other housing projects, etc. This hybrid solution is morecost-effective than implementing a sewerage system for the entire urban area. Having several
decentralized systems installed may also lead to savings on the number of trips for the vacuum
trucks to collect the septage and to dispose of in a centralized treatment plant.

● Drafting of Specific Guidelines for decentralized system implementation and monitoringprocess from the different agencies (DOH, DILG, DENR, LWUA, LLDA, PRRP)The guidelines can include specifications the design, installation, construction, inspection, approvaland monitoring guidelines for the decentralized system. Existing guidelines are only applicable for
septic tanks.

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Long term

Brunei● Integrated Centralized and Decentralized Wastewater Systems

Cambodia

Capital intensive projects take time due to the resources required. If the hybrid strategy is chosen by
the local government as the appropriate solution for their locality, the centralized sewage/septage
management system may be integrated with the existing system, thereby increasing the capacity of
the local government in managing and treating domestic wastewater.

● Enhanced Business Models and Financing Mechanism for Cost Recovery at Different
Phases in the Sanitation Service Chain

Indonesia

In the existing business model for septage management in the Philippines, procurement of vacuum
trucks is part of the capital investment. However, there is an option for encouraging private sector
participation in the emptying and transport phase, by licensing and certifying private trucking
operators. Thus, collection and transport of septage will be more frequent – every three years, forexample – rather than the existing five to seven years desludging cycle. These private trucking
operators will be paid on the volume of septage that they bring to the septage treatment plant.

Laos
Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines
Thailand
VietnamPhilippines

Country Reports67About PoDIWM

Kingdom of Thailand
CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsOver the last two decades, Thailand has achieved remarkable improvement in access to improved
sanitation. By 2017, 99.8 percent of all households in the country had access to improved sanitation.
According to SDGs 6 indicator, Thailand is on the upward trend in terms of clean water and sanitation
percentage and rating. Globally, Thailand is positioned 12th in terms of SDG 6’s value and indicator
criteria such as population using at least basic sanitation services, which are improved sanitation
facilities. Although there has been an overall improvement in sanitation, due to the lack of proper
access to domestic and septage/sludge treatment facilities, lack of funds, absence of performance
testing standards, coordination among relevant ministries and effective local government
administration, the country still faces major drawbacks in addressing the issues.

Current Situation of Domestic Wastewater Management in Thailand

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ThailandBrunei

Combination of both on-site, decentralized (cluster) and centralized wastewater treatment facilities
is a typical form of domestic wastewater treatment. It is estimated that only about 26-27% ofdomestic wastewater is being properly treated in Thailand. Approximately, 90% of the total generated
wastewater daily is graywater of which 73% of it passes through the drainage canal and gets disposed
into the receiving water. The only treatment it gets is sedimentation and some microbial degradationin the drainage canal. The remaining 27% of graywater together with the 8% of the total 0.98 million
m³ of blackwater produced daily from commercial septic tanks are being treated at the wastewater
treatment plants. However, the status of the black water infiltrating into the ground from the cesspool
which contributes nearly 90% of the black water remains unknown together with the environmental
and health impacts in the region. These onsite systems of commercial septic tanks and cesspool
are served by legal and illegal trucks for sludge collection of which only a very small percentage aresafely treated in the existing faucal sludge treatment plants, while the rest are illegally dumped into
the receiving water bodies posing serious environmental and health impacts.

Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines
Thailand
VietnamRegulatory Framework of Decentralized Domestic Wastewater and Fecal Sludge Management

ThailandCountry Reports

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Activity Reports

Country Reports

EventsAbout PoDIWM

Related stakeholders of the decentralized domestic wastewater sector

ASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE● Institutional Framework and Policy Coordination

Policy influence is required to establish standards for wastewater and faecal sludge management
as well as to streamline the tariff collection process. Coordination among and within government
forces is currently feeble due to overlapping institutional roles which should be resolved soon alongwith the capacity building of the institutions. Apart from institutional improvements, it is important
to raise awareness among the public to ensure their fullest cooperation in implementing sanitationrelated legislations and practices.
Wastewater treatment plants are operated at the low incoming influent concentration. Treatment
plants still can accommodate the fecal sludge to meet the organic content requirement, however,organic content requirement shall be evaluated prior to undergoing the co-treatment. This could
compensate some proportion of the raw fecal sludge going into the open environment while
complementing the organic requirement for the treatment plants to effectively remove the nutrients

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ThailandBruneifrom wastewater. This requires the coordination among the departments coupled with theawareness of the authorities to consider the fecal sludge as the resource rather than the burden.

● Technology

Cambodia

A growing number of the decentralized wastewater treatment facilities are being constructedacross the country. Installation, operation and maintenance of decentralized systems often require
more awareness, involvement, and participation from local users than centralized ones. The
decision to implement a decentralized solution to wastewater treatment needs is usually made or
discussed at the local level, and local stakeholders are usually more proactive when considering
these systems. Decentralized wastewater systems showed a competitive cost structure, simpler
technology, and limited additional costs, while high efficiency could be achieved with good O&M.
Locally reclaimed water was largely (30–100%) used for landscape irrigation of green areas, whilein centralized systems less than 5% of the effluent was recycled. Modification of the guideline on
the anaerobic digestor to recover the greenhouse gas from digesters or flaring the gas prior toreleasing into the environment.

Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia

Regarding fecal sludge or septage treatment plants in Thailand, unfortunately, there are about
162 fecal sludge treatment facilities in Thailand. In the case of Nonthaburi fecal sludge treatment
plant, anaerobic digester is the major treatment technology. The treated sludge is used as a soil
amendment. There is no provision as of now to accommodate the sludge from the decentralized
domestic wastewater plant and sewerage plant. For the septage treatment plant, there are no
guidelines and standards.
About 90 % of households hold leaching nature containment types (cesspools) contributing to thegroundwater pollution. The cesspool upgrade shall be the priority agenda. The upgrade shall be thesealing the bottom of cesspool. For the new households or the communities, it shall be mandatory
to have a proper septic tank while focusing on the enforcement and monitoring.

Myanmar● Finance

Philippines

On December 4, 2006, National Environment Board agreed to collect wastewater management
fee in accordance with the polluters pay principle and depending on the type of the wastewater
treatment systems.
The type of treatment systems and per cubic meter of fees to be charged in presented below:
1. Stabilization Pond 2 – 4 baht per cubic meter,
2. Aerated Lagoon (AL) 3 - 5 baht per cubic meter,
3. Activated Sludge systems (AS) 3-5 baht per
At present, only about 17 local administrative organizations have adopted the user fee forwastewater collection. This has resulted in the lack of funds to operate and maintain the treatment
plants.

Thailand
Vietnam

ONEP provides the funding for the wastewater treatment plant investment, however, most of thelocal organizations do not meet the documentation based on ONEP’s template. In other words,
the local authorities are not capable of preparing documentation and do not seek any technicalconsultation thus could not secure the fund.
Hence for wastewater and faecal sludge management to be sustainable, it is necessary to charge
the treatment fee to the users. The different schemes like the surcharge on the water bill, property
tad or income can be experimented.
Apart from the cost recovery, the Thailand providing both wastewater and faecal sludge emptying
and transport service could face the dual investment and management for wastewater and faecal
sludge treatment plant. This could escalate the amount of tariff to be charged to the user in orderThailandCountry Reports71

About PoDIWM

to sustain both systems. For the existing schemes, possibility of accommodating the FS into theexisting wastewater treatment plant shall be explored. While for the growing urban area, different
wastewater management scheme shall be explored decentralized without septic tanks or septic
tanks with soak pits and the faecal sludge treatment plants.

● Private sector involvement

Private sector is limited to the contract-based service for the operation of the wastewater treatment
plant. Though Thai government has been advocating the public-private partnership in wastewater
management, it is yet to come into practice. Tongthawil Service Co. is an example that a fecal
sludge treatment business is profitable with the treatment fee.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSEventsThere is no clear zoning for the centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
However, the recent approach is to employ centralized scheme if the water consumption volume inany area more than 2000 m³/day. Cities need to do a citywide sanitation planning to define the zones
for centralized, decentralized and onsite sanitation systems while introducing technologies targeted
to urban poor and low GHG emission.

Activity Reports

Country Reports

Local government should develop a local action plan and appropriate legislation for cost recovery
mechanism and bring it into practice. The decentralized system should be prioritized considering
its cost, effluent quality produced and operation and maintenance cost arrangements. If needed,a central unit or Ministry should be in charge of the integrated wastewater management approach
including fecal sludge management and shall develop an institutional framework to map local
governments to manage sanitation at their localities with clear roles, ownership and coordination
required. Government shall develop programs to capacitate local government to operate and maintainwastewater-related utilities and shall drive the community to involve in wastewater management bylaunching awareness campaigns regarding regular maintenance of onsite sanitation system.
· Needs for political will and institutional reform· Enabling environment for integrated decentralized domestic wastewater and sludge management· Disabling environment for integrated decentralized domestic wastewater and sludge management· Selection of appropriate sludge treatment technologies for Thailand· Business models and financial mechanisms for cost recovery at different phases· Capacity development and awareness raising programs for policy makers

72Country Reports

ThailandBrunei
Cambodia

Socialist Republic ofVietnamIndonesia

CURRENT SITUATION ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Laos

Vietnam has been successful in improving sanitation facilities, providing more than 90% of the
population with the improved drinking water source and improved sanitation facilities. Despite thenotable improvements, significant challenges still remain for Vietnam in terms of achieving SDGs 6.
In ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, it is importantto reach communities which have no access to centralized facilities. In doing so, decentralized
wastewater treatment systems play a major role.

Malaysia
MyanmarPhilippines
Thailand

Wastewater and sewage sludge management flowchart in Vietnam

Vietnam

The most common collection network type is the combined type, which primarily functioned as thestormwater pipeline, receiving 90% of generated wastewater. Recently, separate collecting system
has been introduced in newly developed areas. Even if there exists a massive demand for urban
domestic wastewater management, the number of urban centers which have been equipped withsewerage treatment plants is still low, around 35 plants in big cities with a total design capacity of
approximately 12-13% of the total need of treatment. Approximately 50% of the rural households
had a typical hygiene latrine in comparison with the rate of 60% which was targeted in national rural
sanitation coverage. The sanitation coverage in rural areas is still low because the main focus now ison the provision of drinking water.
Approximately 90% of urban households have septic tanks receiving domestic wastewater, in mostcases only from toilets. Graywater from the kitchen and drainage is mostly disposed of directly toVietnam

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EventsAbout PoDIWM

open drains. Accumulated septic tank sludge, septage or fecal sludge is pumped out periodically fortreatment and disposal. Against this backdrop, decentralized system for domestic, industrial andinstitutional wastewater treatment are being continuously enforced through legislation.

Activity Reports

The roles of national and local governments towards sanitation in Vietnam

There is a strong regulatory framework related to wastewater management in Vietnam. These
regulations focus on wastewater and fecal sludge management, decentralized domestic wastewater
treatment by hotels, offices, schools, research facility, department stores, supermarkets, markets,
restaurants, production facilities, condominiums and residential buildings, allowable effluent
concentrations, etc. While a comprehensive legal framework has been set up and is periodically
updated, detailed technical guidance, and local regulations adaptive to specific contexts are stilllacking. Significant overlaps and gaps remain as well due to the lack of sufficient synchronization
between agencies.

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VietnamASSESSMENT OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE
Brunei● Institutional Framework and Policy Coordination

Cambodia

A strong legal and institutional framework, access to funding, ownership of local authorities, thepublic’s demand, awareness, feedback and commitment and such are key in this regard. Meanwhile,affordability, functionality, reliability, financial soundness and environmental soundness ensure
the sustainability of decentralized system. On the other hand, lack of priority by local government,
slow implementation, lack of information, education, communication and awareness, poor city
development practices and limited capacity push back the improvement.

Indonesia

In order to overcome the barriers and achieve sustainability in the sanitation sector, the committed
and willing involvement of national and local governments as well as all other stakeholders
including the public is essential. While the sanitation sector is being driven by a strong legislative
framework, well-defined roles and responsibilities have to be set for all stakeholders, to improvecoordination and reduce conflicts. In some cases, their implementation is delayed by the slow
progress of other stakeholders such as line-ministries, which is a situation that requires immediate
improvement.
In order to achieve the quality of service, strict standards should be set for wastewater and sludge
management. Even though the wastewater sector has set standards, sludge treatment and its
performance evaluation have not been well standardized. Regulations and standards set should bestrongly enforced to make sure all stakeholders comply with them. Monitoring practices should be
improved, and random inspections should be increased followed by penalties for those who violate
regulations and standards.

Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar● Technology

Philippines

The performance of decentralized system depends on numerous factors from design throughoperation and maintenance. Local conditions of respective applications are considered in thedesign stage to ensure optimum performance. Simple and reliable technologies such as simplified(separate) sewer system, anaerobic baffled reactor, anaerobic filter, horizontal planted gravel filter
and aerated ponds adopted in the decentralized system significantly eliminate technical difficulties.
Regular monitoring of influent and effluent quality and treatment plant condition is also carried out.
Effluent quality is compared with effluent standards established by several regulations to checkcompliance. In addition to wastewater treatment, sludge treatment and reuse are also being carriedout. For example, more than 200,000 septic tanks in Hai Phong are managed through the GIS
system and fecal sludge is collected every three or five years. However, unlike for wastewater, there
are no established standards to evaluate the performance of sludge treatment facilities and thisissue is currently in the discussion stage.

Thailand
Vietnam● Finance

One major factor contributing to the smooth operation of sanitation systems is cost recovery.
Tariffs is a significant part of cost recovery. The tariff system for the decentralized system is not aswell defined as that of the centralized system. For the centralized wastewater system, wastewater
tariffs are defined as 10-20% of the water tariff in most cases. Collected wastewater tariff is used
to contribute to covering the operation and maintenance costs. On the contrary, decentralized
wastewater treatment systems do not employ an effective and sustainable financial model.
The fact that decentralized system involving a large number of stakeholders could diversify funds
leading to financial sustainability. Some of the funding agencies for currently running Vietnamese
decentralized system are ADB, BORDA, IMV, Animals Asia Foundation, MARD-Vietnam, local andprovincial governments and private owners. Studies which conducted economic analyses on the
Vietnam

Country Reports75About PoDIWM

wastewater sector have concluded that it is worthwhile to invest in the sewerage and wastewater
infrastructure in Vietnam. Efficient management of received investments is also as important as
attracting them. The studies also recommend that efforts should be made to recover the full orclose-to-full cost within three to five years of commencing operation of the infrastructure throughuser fees.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS● Legal and policy recommendations

Country Reports

Events· Commitment towards SDG6.3· Should be driven by the resource recovery and reuse· Formulation of laws/regulations
For Septage management
For On-site system and Off-site management· Improvement of laws/regulation for
For Environmental Water Quality Standard (Receiving water environment) QCVN 08, 09, 10/
BTNMT for ambient water quality
Regulation of Effluent Water Quality QCVN 14, 40/BTNMT for wastewater quality· Develop with regulators understanding of appropriate compliance:
e.g. use of composite sampling, percentile compliance, phased introduction of consent
Reporting requirements
Penalties for non-compliance
Establish monitoring and basic standards for the re-use of sludge● Technology

Activity Reports

Since the decentralized system is a promising technology to ensure sanitation for all, national andlocal guidelines have to be established as soon as possible. The guidelines should cover all aspectsof planning, building, operating and maintaining not just plants, but also sludge/septage collection,and transportation. For continuous improvement of the sanitation sector, research and development
activities should also be pioneered through research institutions, universities and relevant agencies.
· Specific treatment process (technology) to meet the effluent water quality standards is requested,
and the performance of specific treatment process (technology) should be evaluated andexamined.
For improvement of system performance and efficiency· Formulation of Design and O&M manualFor enhancing the selection of appropriate technology (Design guideline) considering the levelof treatment required as well as BOD of influent wastewater
For treating wastewater safely and steadily· Innovation of technology
Acceleration of the efficiency of wastewater treatment and management
Impact on the existing systems● Planning and coordination· Closely coordinate at the central level between MOC, MOST and MONRE on developing management
mechanisms, policies and technologies for decentralized wastewater treatment solutions.
· Role and coordination of central/local government and private sector for planning, design,
construction, O&M, assessment, etc.
· Zonation for the centralized and decentralized scheme-short-term focus must be on decentralized

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VietnamBruneischeme, long-term plan for transitioning to centralized scheme.
· Zonation of the areas for the different schemes with FSM, Decentralized scheme and Centralized
scheme - considering population density while paying particular attention to underlying aquifers.

● Management models

Cambodia· Need a single body to manage the network and treatment of wastewater
Have resource/skills available for M&E, service and network.
Have operational understanding of process.
Establish sampling regime and capability for wastewater characterization and compliancemonitoring.
· Appropriate model for O&M service provider company
BIWASE model: manage all water/wastewater/solid waste in Binh Duong City and sub-urban
areas
Public participation

Indonesia
Laos● Financial mechanisms

Malaysia

Necessary measures have to be taken to incentivize private sector participation in the sanitation
sector and to encourage PPP. While there are successful programs conducted by the private sector,
scaling up and diversification of private sector participation, particularly in smaller and remotewater schemes, are being challenged.
· Efficiency of existing financial resources· Mobilizing additional and innovative forms of domestic and international finance
Enhancement of public-private partnership
Policy and financial incentives for the private investor· Establishment of construction and O&M cost sharing principles· Sound business model considering long term income and expenditures· Appropriate model for O&M service provider company· Tariff Collection
Protection for poverty
Requirement to raise the tariff to fully cover wastewater conveyance, treatment and by-producthandling.
Provide a roadmap for the required increase in tariff· Policy shall seek political commitment to enforce the user tariff scheme to cover O&M cost of thetreatment plants

MyanmarPhilippines
Thailand● Effective fecal sludge management

Vietnam

Country Reports

Vietnam· Formalize management of fecal sludge
Desludging regulations
Define ultimate disposal of sludge - landfill or reuse
If reuse define treatment stage to achieve required standards
For example: Co-composting with green waste· Promotion of septage management and sewage works
Centralized wastewater treatment plant· Other by-products safe disposal
Screenings, grit and grease to be disposed to landfill
Septic waste to undergo aerobic treatment as a minimum
Target wastewater treatment standards for liquors
Sludge to blend with sludge from wastewater treatment plants
Obligate reporting of mass & composition of materials collected (including septic sludge)
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EventsAbout PoDIWM

Technology Selection Guideline

Regional Policy Recommendation

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Round-Robin Test

Round-Robin Test

Round-Robin TestEvents

About PoDIWM

Report on Round-Robin
Test on Harmonized
Performance Testing Method
for Decentralized Domestic
Wastewater Treatment Facilities
Introduction

Country Reports

The major pollutants in most of the water bodies come from the domestic wastewater. Most of theASEAN countries have already established the effluent standard. However, compliance to the standard
is difficult due to the lack of governance to appropriately execute the necessary countermeasures tomeet the effluent standard.
One way to solve the issue is to promote installing the performance certified decentralized wastewater
treatment facilities for domestic wastewater. Most of the households only set up the simple septictank which is rarely cleaned or desludged. Being aware of the urgency to lessen the damage bydomestic wastewater, some countries in ASEAN have started considering an establishment of thestandardization of treatment performance testing method for domestic wastewater facilities.

Activity Reports

In the last few years, the import/export of the wastewater tanks is increasing within the ASEAN region.
Having recognized the similarity of the use condition of the tanks and rapid increase in population in
the ASEAN region, respective countries would have great merit with the harmonized testing method.

Round-robin test
To foster a better understanding of the performance test and certification system in the ASEAN
region, the round-robin test on the performance testing method was conducted in three countries;
Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan.
In this round-robin test, the draft of the Indonesian testing method was used as a basis of theharmonized testing method to find which part could be common and which part would be unique ineach country.
Three identical test products which are made in Indonesia were purchased and installed at the testingbodies in each country.
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Testing bodyThailandAIT Test Center

Japan

NIES and BCJ

Regional Policy Recommendation

PDAM Bandung and
PUSPERKIM

Set-upTechnology Selection Guideline

Indonesia

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Brief specification of the test product
BJ-1 (PT. Daiki Axis Indonesia)· Main components: Sedimentation/separation chamber, anaerobic contact media chamber, moving bed chamber(aerobic), sedimentation chamber, and disinfectant chamber· Capacity: 1 m³/day· Total volume: 1.73 m³· Blower: 60 L/min

Set-up of the test product in each country.

Round-Robin Test

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83Harmonization of the performance testing method
About PoDIWM

In this project, it was found that not all the procedure could be the same in three countries. For
example, due to the constraints of the equipment for wastewater feeding in each testing body, thedetails of the wastewater inflow pattern could not be the same in the three countries. However,the principal feature of the inflow pattern such as the peak factor and the peak shape could be thesame. Because the inflow pattern has a great impact on the treatment performance in small-scale
wastewater treatment facilities, the harmonization of this part of the testing method would be very
important.

Events

BOD and nitrogen concentration of the influent wastewater was adjusted to the standard
concentration using additives like methanol, glucose, or feces, and the way of the adjustment wasalso different in the three countries. Development of an easy but precise way to adjust concentration
might be a key to establish a harmonized testing method. As an alternative, evaluation based on theremoval rate would be worth to be considered.
Water quality items in the effluent standard and analytical methods are not identical in each country.
These parts should be unique in each country, however, the same testing method could be applied forthe performance evaluation of test products.

Country Reports

Future development
We still have a long way to go before we have the regional mutual recognition with one harmonized
testing method in the ASEAN region. It is so important to exchange the professional views and ideason the establishment and operation of the testing method within ASEAN member states.

Activity Reports

It is also necessary to set up the testing bodies by public bodies either at the central government orprovincial government level to maintain a fairness of the test. Further study and establishment of an
appropriate framework of the organization and operational rules should be discussed. Hopefully, thetesting body would be an international organization in ASEAN.

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Technology
Selection Guideline

Technology Selection Guideline
Regional Policy Recommendation

Technology Selection Guideline

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85Events

About PoDIWM

Development of Sustainable
Decentralized Domestic
Wastewater Treatment
Technology Selection Tools for
ASEAN Countries

Activity Reports

Country Reports

When choosing and installing a wastewater treatment system, several selection criteria applied,
including the type of system, wastewater characteristics and extent of treatment, human healthconsiderations, level of management and oversight required, and the effluent standards to be met.
We have prepared the guideline for the selection of decentralized domestic wastewater technology
to cater to the needs of the local government officials who are usually responsible for selecting thedecentralized domestic wastewater technologies in infrastructure development for sanitation.
Today there is a wide variety of decentralized systems developed for residential, industrial, andcommercial use. They can be scaled to meet individual homes' needs, or for clustered treatment tomeet individual houses' needs, or for clustered treatment to meet the needs of several residential
housing units or commercial facilities. Following figure represents the scaling of decentralized andcentralized capacities.

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A decentralized or semi-centralized system offers the following advantages:

Round-Robin Test

1. Less cost required; in terms of investment costs and operation and maintenance costs.
2. Better protection of water resources, in case of failure small damage (risk minimization)
3. Better adjustment to the individual grade of pollution
4. Flexible (expandable) and adaptable to changing frame conditions, population, tourism, industries
5. Provide tailor-made solutions for environmentally sensitive areas, can be implemented in the modular
principle
6. Can better fit into the landscape
7. Re-use of treated wastewater and nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus) is easier to manage

The main drawbacks of decentralized wastewater management are:Technology Selection Guideline

1. Potential lower treatment efficiency (esp. Nitrogen and Phosphorus)
2. Need for education and correct usage
3. Require qualified personal for operating and maintenance
4. Insufficient monitoring might occur
5. Legal frameworks and institutional settings are more complex

Regional Policy Recommendation

Domestic wastewater contains undesirable and potentially unsafe chemical and biological contaminants
generated from specific processes in residential, commercial, and industrial processes. While
introducing contaminants makes up a relatively small fraction of the total wastewater composition,
they can still be present in large amounts to endanger public health and environmental integrity (Trotta
et al., 2002). Domestic wastewater typically has lower pollutant loads than commercial and industrial
wastewater. Regardless, many potential pollutants can be present in domestic sewage due to various
domestically available chemicals that can easily dispose of the toilet, sink, or drain.
Despite the large number of potential pollutants present in domestic wastewater, its general chemicaland biological composition have been well characterized. Domestic wastewater consists of two main
components: graywater and blackwater. Blackwater is any wastewater that has come into contact withhumans. Graywater is defined as untreated wastewater that has not come into contact with humanwaste. Sources of graywater include wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins,
washing machines, and laundry tubs. Graywater is typically 30 - 50 % of the total wastewater flow
generated in indoor residential use.
Any decision in favor of a specific technical option in the early planning phase will strongly influenceboth investment and operating costs. To provide cost-effective and sustainable decentralized
wastewater treatment plant should take a holistic approach in selecting the treatment technology.
Selection of alternatives for new or upgrade decentralized wastewater treatment plant relies on
considering the economic and non-economic criteria. However, this approach's challenge lies in often
difficulty considering appropriately essential factors that are not readily quantifiable.
Economic criteria includes the parameters on initial investment cost, operational and maintenance cost.
As for non-economic criteria, technical criteria includes the parameters on land space requirement,
construction difficulty, operator technical skill, ability to handle the flow/quality variation. Environmental
criteria includes the parameters on nitrogen removal, BOD removal, energy type. Social related criteria
includes the air pollution.
During the development of the plan, the planners would have the main selection to be the primaryconsideration in selecting treatment technology. Several factors usually comprise the planners' primaryconsideration while designing wastewater treatment technology, such as land availability, capital cost,
operational and maintenance cost, and technical skill requirement. Additionally, the primary criteria
Technology Selection Guideline

Activity Reports87About PoDIWM

are also supported by other supporting technical criteria that will ease the planners to lower down thetechnology options.
To consider the treatment capacity, decentralized wastewater treatment technology can be flexible andadaptable to site conditions, population type, and type of wastewater characteristics. The wastewater
management system can vary based on the house site condition. Additionally, several treatment
technologies are not always suitable for smaller treatment capacity, as it might be too expensive if
applied for single or ten houses. In this guideline, the treatment technology will be classified into threetreatment capacity types.

Events

The wastewater treatment selection represented in the following matrices is prepared to combine thetreatment capacity and planner's consideration in selecting wastewater treatment technology.

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Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Technology Selection Tool for 5 – 50 PE

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Technology Selection Guideline

Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Technology Selection Tool for 50 -500 PE

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Technology Selection Guideline

Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Technology Selection Tool for 500 – 10,000 PE

Regional Policy Recommendation

Technology Selection Guideline

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Round-Robin Test

Regional Policy
Recommendation

Technology Selection Guideline
Regional Policy Recommendation

Regional Policy Recommendation

Activity Reports91About PoDIWM
EventsRegional Policy
Recommendation on
Domestic Wastewater
Management

Country Reports

Regional "ONE VISION" in each Policy Domains ofIntegrated Domestic Wastewater Management
Based on the sub-thematic group discussion held during the 1st Regional Policy Dialogue in January
2020, participated by the Country Task Force team members as representatives of the respective
countries, the following regional vision, policy interventions, regional context and potential regional
programs were identified.
● Technological development for

Activity Reports

decentralized domestic wastewater treatment systems
Vision: Fulfill technological needs for decentralized domestic wastewater treatment systems for
integrated domestic wastewater management
Policy interventions:· Appropriate legislation and institutional arrangements (including Private-public partnership)
for identifying and supporting the needs of technology for decentralized domestic wastewater
management are identified to be necessary at both national and local government level.
· Availability of the appropriate technology that is suitable for the local context in the ASEAN countries
is essential factor.
· Public awareness must promote the usage of appropriate technology.

● Policy coordination on domestic wastewater management master plan
Vision: Reliable wastewater treatment system that is accessible to everyone
Policy interventions:· Institutional framework including regulation and its enforcement are identified to be a key factor.
· To build financial mechanism such as national government subsidies system for local government,
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appropriate fee collection system on user's fee, and the private and public partnership framework to
enable the investment of the private sector in this issue.
· Awareness and education to the residents are also important to ensure the accessibility to sanitationand clean water in their community.
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● Potential financial mechanism and fee collection

Technology Selection Guideline

Vision: Towards transparent, sustainable and affordable financing mechanisms for decentralized
domestic wastewa ter system in ASEAN
Policy interventions:
The following policy measures are identified to realize the above vision.
· Government continues to provide funds and subsidies for decentralized domestic wastewater
treatment system· Promote Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for investment and the operation and maintenance (O&M)
with different modalities· Establish a master plan for wastewater management including central treatment plants anddecentralized domestic wastewater treatment system· Introduce Polluter Pay Principle/beneficiaries pay principle by developing tariff setting mechanism· Introduce joint billing system (such as water supply and wastewater)· Establish “sanitation fund” (capex and opex)· Develop rules and regulations for desludging services considering the whole sanitary service chain· Facilitate the introduction of local technologies and capacity building● Policy implementation and capacity building at the local government level

Regional Policy Recommendation

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Regional Policy Recommendation

Vision: Ensure the National Level Policy implementation through Multi Stakeholder Involvement at Nationaland Local Level for Safely Managed Domestic Wastewater
Policy interventions:· Providing strong ordinances (Includes Disincentives Measures) and ensuring its implementation isimportant both on incentives and disincentives.
· Providing incentives to the local government that has good performance of services (throughfinancial and/or professionals support).
· Providing incentives to the household that applying Standardized Septic Tank and got the Septic
Tank Desludged is enhanced to increase an awareness.
· Creation of institutional structure enables conveyance of the policy not only at the national level but
also at the local government level.
· The Decentralized domestic wastewater management services chain should be managed by an
institution/operating unit and the scheduled desludging by the operator units should be managed by
the operator units and regulated.
· To ensure every local government has a database of the treatment technology applied to every
household.
· The database of the treatment technology should be managed by institutions and included in
the policy. On financial policy measures, payment upon service rendered is the way to gain more
understanding by the users of the domestic wastewater treatment system.
· Implementation of Data Privacy Act (Philippines), Privatisation Issue and Unsuccessful initiatives(Thailand), Level of Community Awareness on Needs of Scheduled Desludging, Existence ofTraditional or Primitive System - not Standard /unregulated.

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● Standardization on treatment performance testing method for
About PoDIWM

decentralized domestic wastewater management

EventsVision: Be accessible to reliable products of decentralized domestic wastewater treatment technology
by the harmonized testing protocols in ASEAN member states
Policy Interventions:
Followings have been identified as important policy interventions.
· Prioritizing decentralized domestic wastewater treatment and fecal sludge management as “Key/integral Parts” in achieving SDG6
· Harmonization of effluent standard parameters and analytical methods· Establishment of certification and endorsement system for the products· Public awareness raising· Capacity development (both end-users and local government)· Manufacturers registration and inspection of the product in the operational stage

Hub Function for Continuous Networking of the Regional
Stakeholders on Domestic Wastewater Management

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Country Reports

Continuous networking of the stakeholders on domestic wastewater management in ASEAN region
is proposed to establish inheriting the multi-stakeholder’s network from the PoDIWM project areproposed. It will enhance the data collection and knowledge and information sharing on the credible andupdated timely wastewater and sanitation data in ASEAN, which will inform policy-makers as a basisof evidence-based decision-making in respective countries and to provide numerous social, economicand environmental benefits in both public and private sectors. This network will be consulted of the
National Focal Points plus the Focal Points especially working on the issue of wastewater management
in respective countries. The sub-working group will be a platform to consult among the ASEAN Member
States and interested Development Partners which are interested in supporting the Member Statesin this issue, to enhance the management of the domestic wastewater including septage more safely
and appropriately. The group will also report back to the AWGWRM main body the updated status ofupcoming projects, regional activities, etc. and to seek for according to the advice on issues related todomestic wastewater. The sustainable hub function will be organized thorough the certain platform
which shall be developed in the upcoming phase of the project.

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Roadmap for Appropriate Domestic Wastewater Management in ASEAN Region

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Technology Selection Guideline
Regional Policy Recommendation

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Testimonial
The ASEAN Member States are experiencing high and fast urbanization, increasing ourmajor cities' load, including our water condition. The provision of sustainable urban water
and wastewater management is essential to support safer, inclusive, and resilient humansettlements. Decentralized wastewater management is widely known as a tool for providing
safe wastewater management, bridging the gap between onsite systems and conventional
centralized systems.
The implementation of Policy dialogue and network building of multi-stakeholders on
integrated decentralized domestic wastewater management in ASEAN countries (PoDIWM)
Project allows us to exchange challenges and solutions in managing wastewater to provide
clean and safe water sanitation in AMSs. I want to emphasize that multi-stakeholders
collaboration in managing decentralized wastewater management is a fundamental tool in
implementing the project. I hope the project can further strengthen the water and sanitation
collaboration among the ASEAN Member States in the future.
Even though, during the implementation of this project, we are facing a Covid-19 pandemic.
I appreciate the implementation team's adaptability and commitment to implementing the
project. Allow me to express the appreciation for all the ASEAN Member States that alreadycollaborate and contribute during the PoDIWM Project implementation. Moreover, I would
sincerely address my gratitude to the National Institute of Environmental Studies - Japan,
the ASEAN Secretariat, and the Directorate of Sanitation, Directorate General of Human
Settlements, Ministry of Public Works and Housing for implementing this project smoothly.
Regards,

Diana Kusumastuti, Mrs.,
Director-General of Human Settlements Ministry of Public Works andHousing Government of Indonesia