Operation and Maintenance and Performance Monitoring of On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems in Japan: A Proposal for India
Year: 2025
Type: report
Abstract: The small-scale Johkasou, which is installed in single-family homes with a wastewater treatment capacity of about 1 cubic meters per day and is an on-site wastewater treatment system whose performance is guaranteed, is widespread in Japan. Even small-scale Johkasou systems installed in single-family homes are appropriately maintained in Japan because the Johkasou Act provides detailed regulations on their management. These regulations allow operation and maintenance (O&M) to be carried out as a private company’s business. The Johkasou Act legally mandates the owners of Johkasou systems to conduct maintenance inspection work on their Johkasou at specific frequencies. Under the Johkasou Act, a ministerial ordinance was issued that stipulates the technical standards and required frequencies for the maintenance inspection work of Johkasou systems. The owners of Johkasous can outsource the maintenance inspection work to private companies (this is done in almost all cases). Only a Johkasou O&M vendor, who deploys qualified Johkasou operators, who have passed the Johkasou operator examination, or who have completed the Johkasou operator training course provided by the training institution designated by the government, and who are registered to the prefectural government, can do the work. Johkasou equipment, in principle, operates unmanned. However, in the case of a large Johkasou with a capacity of 501 PE or more, the owner of the Johkasou needs to deploy a Johkasou technical supervisor (it is not essential to be resident) with the relevant qualification. The annual inspection conducted by the inspection agency designated by the prefectural government monitors whether the maintenance inspection works and the desludging works are appropriately performed. There is a big difference in achieving stable wastewater treatment and the effect of water environment conservation between the Johkasou, which is meticulously managed as mentioned above, and a septic tank, which is generally left unattended after installation unless problems such as pipe clogging occur. We explain how the O&M of a decentralized wastewater treatment facility called a Johkasou is implemented in Japan and attempts to make a proposal based on the country’s experience for improving the O&M of the decentralized wastewater treatment facilities in Hyderabad and India. We hope this paper will help the city of Hyderabad and the state of Telangana, as well as administrative agencies and officials, consider policies regarding the O&M of decentralized wastewater management.
DOI: 10.56506/bwtf7138
Language: English
Subfield: Waste Management and Disposal
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4409258045