Improving the management of FSTP in San Pedro (Côte d’Ivoire)

In developing countries, managing faecal sludge is a significant challenge, and making improvements to the operations at the San-Pedro Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant is crucial. After inspecting the plant, we found that there was no system in place to record essential information, so we suggested the introduction of registers. It came to our attention that the number of off-loadings and the quantity of sludge received varied monthly and were often underestimated. Our investigation revealed that 8,830 m3 of sludge was recorded out of the 14,560 m3 requested, resulting in a shortfall of 5,730 m3. The plant’s lack of staffing has resulted in unfinished tasks. Additionally, we discovered that 50% of households surveyed do not use mechanical emptying. The San-Pedro sludge treatment plant has several weaknesses due to these issues that hinder its proper functioning. We have made several suggestions to improve plant management, and we anticipate that they will be implemented soon.