A comparison of guidelines on septic tanks and soakage systems in Sri Lanka

Excreta related waste is a major cause of surface and groundwater pollution in Sri Lanka. The fact that decentralized onsite disposal is the dominant form of disposal for human excreta related waste makes it an even difficult problem to handle. Therefore well laid out national standards and guidelines on the construction and design of onsite disposal systems are essentially required to ensure safety of water resources in Sri Lanka with the growing population and urbanization. Many attempts have been made by different government authorities to fulfill this requirement at different times. The objective of this paper is to critically and comparatively analyze the contents and level of information given in different key guidelines, codes of practice and regulations related to onsite disposal of human excreta related wastes and suggest methods to integrate and effectively disseminate this information.