Emergency Faecal Sludge Management – Lime Treatment, Bentiu, South Sudan

Description of the emergency context

Bentiu IDP camp located in Unity state, South Sudan hosts a population of 102,811 as of October population count. The camp has been in existence since 2014 as a Protection of civilian Site (PoC) established after the conflict displacement. In March 2021, the PoC transited to and IDP camp. In 2021, Unity state experienced severe flooding and in September 2021, the flood water reached Bentiu with water levels picking significantly around mid-November 2021 to an average water level of 1.2m. The rising water levels forced residents to flee their homes to nearby higher grounds, destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure, disrupted service delivery, and cut-off the supply chain; leaving displaced population overcrowded in temporary sites and to protect human lives form the flood treats dykes were constructed around Bentiu. Incident resulting in Establishing the FSM: Since September 2021, flood water levels continued to rise significantly in Bentiu putting pressure on the existing dykes. On the 9th October 2022, Bentiu received heavy rains, adding more pressure on the dykes and this pressure resulted in the dyke breach at the western perimeter of the IDP camp. This dyke breach resulted in flooding of access road making the road impassible to the solid and liquid waste treatment sites (Waste Stabilization ponds) which are located approximately 1 km from the IDP camp. Bentiu IDP camp Despite the fact the road to the oxidation ponds was flooded and impassible, the increased flood levels have also affected the ponds with flood water levels rising above the perimeter walls of the maturation and facultative ponds being flooded. This left with no option of managing and disposal of both liquid and solid waste from the camp. Provision of sanitation in the IDP is through onsite latrines constructed around the blocks on the ‘sanitation corridor”. The common design is a block with four stance latrines with average pit depth of 3.7m *1m wide*3.8m length (14m3). The total number of communal latrines in the Bentiu IDP camp is around 2400 stances. The latrines are lined with CGI sheets and get filled up on average after 3 months of construction promoting the need of desludging. Desludging in the camp is done and coordinated by IOM across the camp, through a fleet of tractors mounted with desludging tanks and disposed to the waste stabilization Ponds, situated approximately 0.8km away from the camp.