Faecal sludge management, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica

In the developing nation of Jamaica 70% of the population depends on on-site sanitation (OSS) which can provide an effective and low-cost option for rural wastewater treatment. However, there are serious environmental and human health effects associated with their mismanagement and deterioration. We describe a methodology to determine suitable areas for faecal sludge (FS) treatment systems and to select an optimum combination of FS treatment options for the region. A regional decision model of FS treatment was developed which incorporated treatment alternatives to hauling or pumping to existing centralized systems. The problem is formulated as a linear programming model which selects the optimal combination of treatment options and locations for the region based on a variety of social, economic, and environmental constraints.