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Putting knowledge into practice for improved faecal sludge treatment plant (Bangladesh)

Vo Hoang Nhat Phong (Vietnam)

I gained up-to-date knowledge about sanitation from the Faecal Sludge Management online course, which has boosted my self-belief and confidence to be a part of any sanitation project. I got thorough knowledge of the entire FSM chain (from collection to treatment and reuse) and was extremely interested in lessons related to treatment technologies (i.e. constructed wetlands, anaerobic digestion).


In October 2016, I joined a consultation team from AIT that went to Khulna and Jhenaida in Bangladesh to look at a faecal sludge treatment system. We went to monitor and follow up on the system designed by AIT and in particular to select appropriate plants for the wetland. I identified and recommended four local plant species that are suitable for planting in wetland areas: the Curcuma (with its beautiful flower), cattails, Phragmites sp. and Scirpus sp. I chose these because local plants have more adaptive capacity than plants from a nursery. My selection was based on knowledge gained from the online course. We also found some errors in the construction of the wetland, particularly the drainage layer. We rectified this by increasing the depth of wetland to maintain the hydraulic gradient, laying down HDPE plastic sheeting to prevent percolation into the groundwater and finalizing the depth of media layers in the wetland.

I enhanced my skills through participation in the FSM online course, which enabled me to perform better in my profession.

Vo Hoang Nhat Phong

PhD fellow

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