Design and Operational Performance of FSTP-3: Addressing Fecal Sludge Management Challenges in Rohingya Refugee Camp

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-884-4_43How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Fecal Sludge Management (FSM); Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP); Rohingya Refugee Crisis; Department of Environment (DoE)

Abstract

With over 900,000 residents arriving since 2017, the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, has created one of the largest and most concentrated refugee populations globally. This rapid influx has strained local infrastructure, particularly water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, with fecal sludge management (FSM) becoming a critical challenge. The camps generate about 1,025 cubic meters of fecal sludge daily, leading to overflowing latrines, environmental contamination, and an increased risk of waterborne diseases. In response, the centralized Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP-3) in Teknaf was constructed, with a capacity to process 120 cubic meters of sludge per day using advanced technologies, including anaerobic lagoons, anaerobic baffled reactors (ABRs), anaerobic filter reactors (AFRs), planted drying beds, constructed wetlands, and a polishing pond. This study evaluates FSTP-3’s design, construction, and operational performance, highlighting its environmental, social, and economic impacts. The plant achieves a 79% reduction in sludge volume, with effluent meeting Department of Environment (DoE) standards. Biogas generation offsets 15% of the plant’s energy needs, and resource recovery initiatives, such as composting, promote sustainability. The project also created 150 local jobs, benefiting both refugees and the host community. FSTP-3 offers a scalable FSM model for resource-constrained, high-density settings, providing valuable insights for similar humanitarian contexts.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Md. Riaz Hossain
AU  - Syed Al Rahat
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/18
TI  - Design and Operational Performance of FSTP-3: Addressing Fecal Sludge Management Challenges in Rohingya Refugee Camp
BT  - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Engineering Research, Innovation, and Education 2025 (ICERIE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 359
EP  - 366
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-884-4_43
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-884-4_43
ID  - Hossain2025
ER  -