Expertise: faecal sludge management, desludging
Expertise Group: Biological Sciences & Ecology
Consultant Source: International
TOR Keywords:
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
Background
- Baguio Resilient City Tourism Project. The Government of the Philippines requested support from the
Asian Development Bank for the Baguio Resilient City Tourism Project (BRCTP). The BRCTP will contribute
to the government’s Transforming Communities Towards Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Tourism
(TouRIST) program. One of the project outputs is to improve sanitation infrastructure and services,
thereby improving water quality and reducing adverse impacts on health in Baguio City. The Baguio City
Government (BCG) is the implementing agency for the BRCTP. - Technical Assistance (RETA) – 9897: Accelerating Sanitation for All in Asia and the Pacific. To
complement the BRCTP, the Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) – 9897: Accelerating Sanitation for All
in Asia and the Pacific will finance this assignment to support the implementation of priority
activities under the faecal sludge management (FSM) plan 2021-2050 for the city of Baguio. The RETA
champions the principles of citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS). CWIS is a public service approach to
planning and implementing urban sanitation systems which demonstrate three core functions: (i) a
responsible authority(ies) is executing a public mandate for inclusive urban service delivery, (ii) the
authority(ies) is accountable for performance against its mandate, and (iii) resource management and
planning reflect authority mandates, priorities, and performance accountability. - Water supply in Baguio City. Access to drinking water service is unequal in Baguio City. According to
the household survey conducted in 2020 (Source: Baguio City Faecal Sludge Management: Situation
Assessment, Amédé Ferré, 2020. Unless otherwise stated, data are from this report), two-thirds of the
households receive water from the Baguio Water District with significant disparities between the four
catchments. These residents consume on average around 100 liters per capita per day. This relatively
high consumption results in significant generation of wastewater and faecal sludge in the city. The
remaining households receive water from tanker trucks (17%), protected wells (16%), and unsafe sources
(4%). Water consumption is expected to be low for these households. - Sewerage system. Baguio’s sewerage system is composed of a separate sewerage network and covers most
of the Balili River catchment with 10,412 registered sewer connections in 2019. Connections comprise
mainly residential (57%) and commercial establishments (42%) (Source: CEPMO, Baguio). Approximately 10%
of Baguio population is connected to the city sewer line. The city has one sewage treatment plant (STP)
which was built in 1986 with a design capacity of 8,600 m3 per day. Since 2010, the daily sewage inflow
monitored at the BSTP inlet has been decreasing, from 12,464 m3/d (in 2010) to 6,618 m3/d (in 2019). The
reason of this decrease is unclear given the apparent good condition of the network and proactive
maintenance approach (Source: Sanitation Situation, Baguio Situation Assessment Volume 3, Baguio
Sanitation Improvement Project, Egis, July 2020). - Onsite sanitation. Onsite sanitation is prevailing and by far the main source of liquid waste
generated in the City. Around 90% of households in Baguio city currently rely on onsite sanitation and
related faecal sludge management services. Despite proposals to increase the sewer network coverage and
construct new sewage treatment plants in the city, this is only likely to be achieved incrementally due
to the high cost. Onsite sanitation and FSM related services will therefore most likely remain the main
sanitation services in the city in the short (2025) and medium terms (2035). - Poor management of both onsite sanitation facilities and communal septic tanks remains the main
challenges. Most of the systems have never been emptied, resulting in an expected heavy organic load of
the effluent; and illegal dumping of 40% of collected faecal sludge from desludging providers has
significantly contributed to the high pathogens’ concentration recorded in Baguio’s rivers. - Access to improved facilities is high with 94% of households having access to a basic sanitation
service, which is an improved facility that is not shared. Households relying on shared facilities
represent 5% of the households, and 1% practice open defecation. Most of the disposal systems are sealed
tanks (76%), i.e., a single sealed tank or septic tank with two or more chambers. Most of the facilities
are pour-flush systems (72%). There are 11% of households relying on pour-flush latrines mostly
encountered in Bued and Ambalanga catchments. This system does not comply with the City regulations. - Despite the regulation stating an emptying periodicity no longer than 4 years, the demand for the
faecal sludge emptying service remain very low in Baguio. Only 13% of households already requested the
faecal sludge emptying service. Communal septic tanks (CSTs) managed by the city are very rarely or not
desludged (12 in total but 5 no longer in function). - The faecal sludge emptying service is performing well and entirely motorized. The private sector is
actively involved with nine private service providers. The City also operates this service. There are 13
operational trucks in the city. - The city has been operating a Septage Treatment Plant (SpTP) since 2019. The Wastewater, Water &
Ambient Air Management Division (WAMD) staff that is responsible of the operation and maintenance of the
plant are doing great effort to record faecal sludge quantity disposed at the plant. With only 11 m3 of
faecal sludge per day on average disposed and treated at the SpTP in 2019, the plant operates at 60% of
its capacity which is 20 m3/day. - Currently households having a septic tank that is being desludged spend around seven times more than
households relying on city sewerage service. Households connected to a communal septic tank get a free
of charge service. - By strictly enforcing the existing regulation ( i.e. (i) no more than four-year desludging
periodicity, and (ii) a sewerage fee of PHP35/month/toilet), the situation would even worsen:
households relying on onsite sanitation would spend around eight times more than households relying on
sewerage service (this considers the collection, transport and treatment service costs only).
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment - With the support of ADB, the Baguio City Faecal Sludge Management Plan 2021-2050 (FSM Plan) was
developed to guide Baguio City’s interventions to deliver faecal sludge management services in an
efficient, equitable, and sustainable way to improve environmental and public health. Two consultants
have been engaged to support the implementation of the FSM plan. Scheduled desludging has been
identified in the FSM Plan as a promising solution for Baguio city to increase onsite sanitation
desludging periodicity compliance. - This Terms of Reference (TOR) is intended for the engagement of an individual international
consultant (Consultant) to conduct a feasibility study on scheduled desludging for Baguio city.
Duration and Location of the Services - The Consultant will be engaged intermittently over a 5-month period. The Consultant is expected to
start in October 2021. - The assignment shall be in Baguio City, Philippines. The Consultant will hold office at a space
provided by the BCG, subject to travel being allowed by the government.
Scope of Work
- The Consultant shall undertake a feasibility study on scheduled desludging. Two other studies will
be conducted in parallel under the same Technical Assistance, as follows:
(a) A sanitation tariff and finance study to ensure cost recovery of services and equity (by an
individual international consultant); and
(b) A sanitation social program to ensure universal access to FSM services (by an individual
international consultant). - The international consultants who will prepare the three studies mentioned in para. 17 will work as
a team and will be assisted by a coordinator. They will work closely together as a team. The coordinator
will assist all the international consultants with, amongst others, data collection, conducting
interviews with stakeholders, data analysis, and providing recommendations. Further, the two consultants
to support the implementation of the FSM Plan mentioned in para. 13 will also collaborate with the
Consultant on the project background, information sharing, and other technical discussions. - The Consultant in charge of the sanitation tariff and finance study will act as the Lead Consultant
to ensure consistency between the studies. He/she will review the consultants’ inputs and will ensure a
high quality and timely submission of deliverables. - The two objectives of the scheduled desludging are: (i) improve emptying periodicity compliance and
reduce adverse effect on the environment and public health, (ii) increase number of customers who will
avail of the desludging service and keep desludging costs affordable.
Detailed Tasks and/or Expected Output
- To develop the feasibility study, the consultant shall:
• Assess successes and failures from the implementation of scheduled desludging in the Philippines (e.g.
Dumaguete, Baliwag, Metro Manila) for lessons learned, and assess best practices in the subregion. The
assessment will include, among others, PPP models. In particular, the consultant will look at cases
similar to Baguio City, where the desludging service operator is not the water supply service provider.
• Consult the service providers to collect their feedback, assess their willingness to participate in
the scheduled desludging program, and identify potential arrangement.
• Identify the most suitable service design, possible arrangements, financing, and implementation
modalities to promote an inclusive, equitable and sustainable service for scheduled desludging in
Baguio. This also includes setting tariff and billing mechanisms to cover capital and operational
expenses.
• Model scheduled desludging programs under different scenarios and how that would likely evolve over
the planning period. Assess the profitability and sustainability under each scenario using economic
indicators, e.g. Economic and Financial Internal Rate of Return (FIRR), Net Present Value (NPV) and
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC);
• Provide an implementation procedure and identify prerequisites, including scheduling, messages to
deliver to the population, and disposal/treatment capacity required to absorb the increased service
activity;
• Assess the feasibility of implementing mobile transfer stations to improve the profitability and
efficiency of the scheduled desludging program in Baguio;
• Provide contract model in case of PPP;
• In cooperation with the consultant team engaged to develop the Baguio City Sanitation and Hygiene
Behavior Change Communication Strategy and Action Plan, develop the communication objective, key
messages and select the communication channels to promote the selected service design, possible
arrangements, financing, and implementation modalities;
• Prepare a ppt presentation for each report; and organize consultations, meetings, and workshops as
necessary to collect feedback and comments to the study; and
• Assist ADB and BCG with other tasks related to the feasibility study on scheduled desludging as
reasonably requested by ADB and BCG.
Reporting Requirements - The Consultant will report to Thuy Trang Dang, Senior Urban Development Specialist, Asian
Development Bank; Mr. Rhenan Diwas, Head of City Environment and Parks Management Office, BCG, and Ms
Antonette Anaban, Assistant City Planning and Development Coordinator and OIC Head of the City Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Office during the term of his/her assignment. The Consultant will work
closely with the other consultants who will work on the studies mentioned in para 17 . - If travels are allowed, the Consultant will be required to travel to the Philippines. Dates in the
schedule and places of assignment section are indicative and will be agreed with ADB prior to travel.
Client’s Counterpart Support
24 The Consultant will work closely with the CEPMO/WAMD, CBAO, Health Division, Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and BCG. - BCG will provide office space, relevant data and information, contacts, and coordination to organize
meetings and workshops to support the study. - The Consultant will have to consult at least the following key documents which will be provided by
the Client:
•Baguio City Faecal Sludge Management: Situation Assessment, Amédé Ferré, Dec. 2020
•Baguio City Faecal Sludge Management Plan 2021-2050, Amédé Ferré, Feb. 2021
•Baguio Situation Assessment, Baguio Sanitation Improvement Project, Egis, July 2020
•Baguio Feasibility Study, Baguio Sanitation Improvement Project, Egis, Feb. 2021
Minimum Qualification Requirements
The following are the minimum qualification requirements for the Consultant:
• Master’s degree in public health, environmental engineering, sanitation, water management, or a
related field, or a combination of a first degree, and postgraduate/professional training.
• At least 10 years of general experience;
• At least 7 years of experience in structuring FSM services. Experience and knowledge in Citywide
Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) principles and projects is an advantage;
• Experience in at least one project involving implementing scheduled desludging at municipal level;
• Preference will be given to candidates able to demonstrate experience of working in projects where
partnerships were fostered with the private sector, government agencies, and community groups and/or
nongovernmental organizations;
• Regional or country experience is required; and
• Excellent written and spoken English with excellent technical report writing skills. Excellent
communication skills and proven effective project management, and should be able to coordinate with and
synthesize outputs from various subject experts.
Minimum General Experience: 10 Years
Minimum Specific Experience (relevant to assignment): 7 Years
