As Municipality prepares for ensuring the construction of standard septic tanks, it is equally important to aware and build the capacity of relevant stakeholders on the standard septic tank design. In this context, ENPHO, in coordination with Mahalaxmi Municipality and the financial support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, organized a one-day training for the consultant engineers and designers registered in Mahalaxmi Municipality, Lalitpur to train them on the standard septic tank design. The training was organized on 9 May 2023 at Hotel Kutumba, Lalitpur.

 FSM By-Laws of Mahalaxmi Municipality, the first ever on-site legal instrument in Nepal – ‘Rajpatra’ publication mentions the mandatory construction of standard septic tank and the building completion certificate is not provided if standard septic tank is not constructed. However, one of the major challenges was the lack of clarity or knowledge on standard septic tank design amongst the consultant engineers or designers in the Municipality. Realizing this problem, Mahalaxmi Municipality initiated the training for them with the technical support of ENPHO. The training further succeeded in providing in-depth information to the participants on standard septic tank design along with the knowledge on Fecal Sludge Management and Fecal Sludge Treatment Plants.

Project Manager of ENPHO Ms. Rosy Singh started the training with brief background on containment improvement initiatives in Mahalaxmi Municipality and its FSM By-Laws. Program Director of ENPHO Mr. Rajendra Shrestha then led the technical session of the training which included session on fecal sludge management, standard septic tank- its importance and proper design, and fecal sludge treatment technologies in Nepal.

The standard septic tank design manual along with other relevant publications developed by ENPHO were also handed over to the participants for the reference. Altogether, 17 consultant engineers and designers (5 female and 12 male) participated in the training.

The training will further be continued for the next group of the registered engineers and designers in Mahalaxmi Municipality.

‘The training provided in-depth knowledge on designing the standard septic tank. We are now confident in designing the septic tank and know the exact requirements,’ the participants attending the training had the collective feedback.