Timely and safe on-site sanitation system desludging (Bangladesh)

This study investigated contextual and behavioural determinants of household heads’ timely and safe onsite sanitation systems (OSS) desludging practices, including the magnitude of such behaviour, in ward nine of Khulna City Cooperation (KCC) in Bangladesh. Primary data was collected through household surveys, key informant interviews, group interviews and structured observations. Findings of the study indicated that 70% of households had either not previously emptied their OSS, or emptied them more than three years ago. On the other hand, 88.7 % of households that desludged their OSS’s either have done it after faecal sludge overflowed into open drains, or employed unsafe manual emptying practices. The study also revealed that the adoption of timely and safe OSS desludging by households’ heads was positively influenced by: their confidence level in the availability of timely and safe OSS desludging services, and emotional feelings after seeing faecal sludge dumped in the environment. They were negatively influenced by: the frequency of systems flooding from storm and groundwater, the individual’s belief that one’s own waste is less of a health risk than the waste from neighbours, an opinion that timely and safe OSS desludging was costly, and an opinion that desludging is the responsibility of KCC. The study recommended that a behaviour change program, aimed at addressing the identified key determinants, should be carried out in a supportive enabling environment with favourable policies and regulations.