Transfer and acceptance of UASB technology for domestic wastewater: two case studies

The non-technical factors that played a role in the transfer and acceptance of the UASB technology for domestic wastewater are identified and discussed for two case studies. In Cali, Colombia, a full scale plant was implemented in a residential area within the framework of a relatively small project. The fact that in the early developing stage of the technology a large amount of UASB reactors were realized in an uncontrolled way, affected the acceptance of the technology negatively, as did also the odour problem that arose at the demonstration plant. In India, where the UASB technology was introduced in the framework of a large governmental environmental programme with a considerable amount of technical support, this technology is at present broadly accepted. Therefore, involvement of policy makers and strengthening of human resources by intensive technical support are considered important factors when transferring technology. For a further dissemination of the technology, appropriate lending practices of financial agencies are considered as crucial as well as providing the institutional requirements to realize revenue collection.