TOP Resources

TOP Books

Design Manual for Waste Stabilization Ponds in India, by Duncan Mara (Lagoon
Technology International, Leeds, United Kingdom, 1997).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/india/india.html
A full description of WSPs, their process and physical design, including the design of
wastewater-fed fishponds; contains case studies of WSPs systems in Greater Kolkata.

Guidelines for the Hydraulic Design of Waste Stabilization Ponds, by Andy Shilton and Jill
Harrison (Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2002).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/nzealand/nzealand.html
A detailed description of hydraulic aspects of WSPs design, including the effect of baffles
in improving pond performance.

Advanced Primary Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in Tropical Countries: Development

of High-rate Anaerobic Ponds, (PhD Thesis), by Miguel Peña Varón (University of Leeds,
UK, 2002).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/theses/penavaron.html
A doctoral thesis covering the performance of anaerobic ponds in southwest Colombia and
the development of high-rate anaerobic ponds which are shown at pilot scale to be more
efficient than conventional anaerobic ponds but at half the retention time of the latter.

Sanitation and Disease: Health Aspects of Excreta and Wastewater Management, by

Richard Feachem, David Bradley, Hemda Garelick and Duncan Mara (John Wiley & Sons
Ltd, Chichester, United Kingdom, 1983).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/watsan/sansis/sandis.html
A comprehensive treatise on the subject with separate chapters for each of the major
excreta-related human pathogens.

Design Manual for Waste Stabilization Ponds in Mediterranean Countries, [i.e., including
the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa], by Duncan Mara and Howard Pearson
(Lagoon Technology International, Leeds, United Kingdom, 1998).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/med/medman.html
A full description of WSPs, their process and physical design, including WSPs effluent
reuse; contains case studies of WSPs systems in the Middle East, North Africa and
Mediterranean Europe.

Pond Treatment Technology, edited by Andy Shilton (IWA Publishing, London, 2005; not
available on-line – see publisher’s webpage for this book).
http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cmf?name=iwapcatalogue
A state-of-the-art review of all aspects of WSPs written by a number of experts in the field.

28 Waste Stabilisation Ponds

Domestic Wastewater Treatment in Developing Countries, by Duncan Mara (Earthscan
Publications, London, 2003; not available on-line – see publisher’s webpage for this book).
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=4094
A textbook for undergraduate and graduate students; includes comprehensive didactic
material on WSPs and wastewater reuse.

Notes on the Design and Operation of Waste Stabilization Ponds in Warm Climates of
Developing Countries, by Jim Arthur, World Bank Technical Paper no. 7 (The World Bank,
Washington, DC, 1983).
http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/sevlet/WDS_IBank_Servlet?pcont=detail&eid=000178830_981019041
65457
This report contains the recommended financial methodology for comparing competing
wastewater treatment technologies in terms of their net present values.

Wastewater Treatment and Use in Agriculture, by M. B. Pescod, FAO Irrigation and

Drainage Paper No. 47 (Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome 1992).
http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0551E/T0551E00.htm
A comprehensive review of the subject.

Biological Wastewater Treatment in Warm Climate Countries, by Marcos von Sperling and
Carlos A. de L. Chernicharo (IWA Publishing, London, 2004; not available on-line – see
publisher’s webpage for this book).
http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cmf?name=isbn1843390027
A comprehensive guide to wastewater treatment in warm climates; includes basic
principles, WSPs, anaerobic reactors, sludge treatment and disposal.

TOP Conference proceedings

Selected proceedings of the following WSP conferences of the International Water

Association are available on-line in the following issues of the IWA Journal Water Science
and Technology16:

• Second international conference (Berkeley, USA, 1993): vol. 31, no.12.

• Third international conference (João Pessoa, Brazil, 1995): vol. 33, no. 7.
• Fourth international conference (Marrakech, Morocco, 1999): vol. 42, no. 10−11.
• First Latin American regional conference (Cali, Colombia, 2000): vol. 45, no. 1.
• Fifth international conference (Auckland, New Zealand, 2002): vol. 48, no. 2.

The proceedings of the first international conference (Lisbon, Portugal, 1987) are in Water
Science and Technology, vol. 19, no. 12; this issue is not available on-line.

16
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/toc.htm

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 29

TOP Web sites

Sanitation Connection
Sanitation Connection Wastewater Treatment Technologies
http://www.sanicon.net/titles/topicintro.php3?topicId=6
This site lists many publications on WSPs (including links to the IWA WSP Conference
Proceedings listed above) which are all available on the Internet.

For publications on WSP effluent reuse in agriculture and aquaculture, go to Sanitation

Connection Wastewater Reuse.
http://www.sanicon.net/titles/topicintro.php3?topicId=3

For publications on low-cost sewerage (i.e. how to get wastewaters to WSPs), go to

Sanitation Connection Low-cost Sewerage.
http://www.sanicon.net/titles/topicintro.php3?topicId=8

Tropical Public Health Engineering

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/tphehome.html
University of Leeds, UK – This site has many on-line publications on WSPs, including:

• Design Manual for WSPs in India

• Design Manual for WSPs in Mediterranean Countries
• Advanced Primary Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in High-Rate Anaerobic
Ponds
• Sanitation and Disease: Health aspects of excreta and wastewater management

World Health Organization

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/en/
The revised Guidelines on Wastewater Use in Agriculture and Aquaculture will be available
in mid-2005 via the WHO site on Water, Sanitation and Health.

IWA Publishing
Water Science and Technology (index to all issues published since 1995 which are
available on-line)
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/toc.htm

TOP Who’s who

Contacts

Dr Tom Curtis, College of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1
7RU, United Kingdom.
[tom.curtis@ncl.ac.uk]

Professor Bouchaib El Hamouri, Unité d’Epuration et de Réutilisation des Eaux Usées,

Institue Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Boite Postal 6202 Instituts, Rabat, Morocco.
[hamouri@magrebnet.net.ma]

30 Waste Stabilisation Ponds

Professor Duncan Mara, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT,
United Kingdom.
[d.d.mara@leeds.ac.uk]

Dr Kara Nelson, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 535 Davis Hall,
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94270-1710, USA.
[nelson@ce.berkeley.edu]

Professor Howard Pearson, Centro de Tecnología, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande

do Norte, Caixa Postal 1524, 59072−970 Natal − RN, Brazil.
[howard@ct.ufrn.br]

Dr Miguel Peña Varón, Instituto Cinara, Universidad del Valle, AA 25157, Cali, Colombia.
[miguelpe@univalle.edu.co]

Professor Chongrak Polprasert, School of Environment, Resources and Development,

Asian Institute of Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.
[chongrak@ait.ac.th]
Professor Gedaliah Shelef, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Technion,
Haifa 32000, Israel.
[shelef@tx.technion.ac.il]

Dr Andy Shilton, Institute of Technology and Engineering, Massey University, Private Bag
11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
[a.n.shilton@massey.ac.nz]

Professor Marcos von Sperling, Departamento de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental,

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida do Contorno 842 – 7° andar, 30110–060
Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil.
[marcos@desa.ufmg.br]

Electronic network

wsponds@jiscmail.ac.uk – to join send an e-mail to jiscmail@jiscmail.ac.uk; leave the

subject line blank, type in the message “join wsponds your-first-name your-last-name”
(please use your own actual names – e.g., “join wsponds Joseph Smith”); and on the next
line type -- (i.e., two hyphens/dashes). You will then receive a few automatic e-mails with
full instructions. To e-mail all members of the Network (or List, as it is generally called),
simply send an e-mail to wsponds@jiscmail.ac.uk (if you are not a registered member of
the List, your e-mail to this address will simply bounce back).

Feedback on specific issues of WSPs may be obtained from the contacts in the list of
Who’s Who, via the e-network and from the resources listed in the previous sections.
Additionally, opportunities for research placements, specific training courses, field visits

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 31

and other types of collaborative activities can be discussed directly with any of the contacts
given in the previous sections.

TOP Information

Most of the up-to-date resources available in the field of WSPs are listed in Sections 3 and
4. In addition, the web pages of the following IWA specialised groups are excellent
sources of scientific, technical and practical information:

• Waste Stabilization Ponds

http://www.iwahq.org.uk/template.cfm?name=sg16
• Small Water and Wastewater Systems
http://www.iwahq.org.uk/template.cfm?name=sg28
• Use of Macrophytes in Water Pollution Control
http://www.iwahq.org.uk/template.cfm?name=sg13
• Water Reuse
http://www.iwahq.org.uk/template.cfm?name=sg14

TOP Research facilities

Research on WSPs and related technologies are currently being carried out at the
following facilities in South America and Asia:
• The research station on wastewater treatment located in Campina Grande, Paraíba,
Brazil − Estação Experimental de Tratamentos Biológicos de Esgotos Sanitários
(EXTRABES), Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.
• The research facilities at pilot-scale at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais,
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
• The research station on wastewater treatment and reuse located in Ginebra, Valle
del Cauca, Colombia − Estación de Investigación en Tratamiento de Aguas
Residuales y Reuso, Acuavalle S.A. ESP and Instituto Cinara, Universidad del Valle,
Cali.
• The research facilities at pilot- and full-scale located at the Instituto Mexicano de
Tecnología del Agua (IMTA), Jiutepec, Morelos, Mexico; and
• The research facilities at pilot- and full-scale at the Asian Institute of Technology,
Klong Luang, Thailand.

TOP Past and future events

The most important past events related to WSPs technology are listed in the section about
'Conference Proceedings'. Two more recent events are:

The International Seminar on Natural Wastewater Treatment, Cartagena, Colombia,

1−3 October 2003. The selected proceedings of this event, including papers on WSPs
technology in South America, are due to be published in 2005 in the Water and
Environmental Management Series of the International Water Association.

32 Waste Stabilisation Ponds

The Sixth International IWA Conference on Waste Stabilization Ponds, Avignon,
France, 27 September − 1 October 2004. The selected proceedings of this event will be
published in Water Science and Technology in 2005.

Details on future IWA Conferences on WSPs will be available at www.iwahq.org.uk (click

on ‘Events’).

TOP References

Arthur, J.P. (1983). Notes on the Design and Operation of Waste Stabilization Ponds in
Warm Climates of Developing Countries. Technical Paper No 7. Washington, D.C: The
World Bank.
http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDS_IBank_Servlet?pcont=details&eid=000178830_98101904
165457

Ayres, R.M., Alabaster, G.P., Mara, D.D. and Lee, D.L. (1992). A design equation for
human intestinal nematode egg removal in waste stabilization ponds. Water Research 26
(6), 863–865.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V73-48C76J5-
4B&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F1992&_alid=219468863&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_q
d=1&_cdi=5831&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_useri
d=10&md5=ab4de13e8e5447d0678f1bb93c5fa30b

Bernhard, C. and Kirchgessner, N. (1987). A civil engineer’s point of view on

watertightness and clogging of waste stabilization ponds. Water Science and Technology
19 (12), 365–367.

Blumenthal, U.J., Mara, D.D., Peasey, A., Ruiz-Palacios, G. and Stott, R. (2000).
Guidelines for the microbiological quality of treated wastewater used in agriculture:
recommendations for revising the WHO guidelines. Bulletin of the World Health
Organization 78 (9), 1104−1116.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/2000/number%209/78(9)1104-1116.pdf

Costa, R.H.R. and Medri, W. (2002). Modelling and optimisation of stabilization ponds
system for the treatment of swine wastes: organic matter evaluation. Brazilian Archives of
Biology and Technology 45 (3), 385−392.
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-
89132002000300017&Ing=en&nrm=iso>

Council of the European Communities (1991). Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May

1991 concerning urban waste water treatment. Official Journal of the European
Communities L135, 40–52 (30 May).
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/directiv.html

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 33

Curtis, T.P., Mara, D. D. and Silva, S. A. (1992). Influence of pH, oxygen and humic
substances on ability of sunlight to damage faecal coliforms in waste stabilization pond
water. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 58 (4), 1335–1343.

DeGarie, C.J., Crapper, T., Howe, B.M., Burke, B.F. and McCarthy, P.J. (2000). Floating
geomembrane covers for odour control and biogas collection and utilization in municipal
lagoons. Water Science and Technology 42 (10–11), 291–298.
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/04210wst042100291.htm

EPA SA (2004). Wastewater Lagoon Construction. Adelaide, SA: Environment Protection

Agency of South Australia.
http://www/environment.sa.gov.au/epa/pdfs/guide_lagoon.pdf

Juanicó, M. and Shelef, G. (1991). The performance of stabilization reservoirs as a

function of design and operation parameters. Water Science and Technology 23 (9),
1509−1516.

Lloyd, B.J., Leitner, A.R., Vorkas, C.A. and Guganesharajah, R.K. (2003). Under-
performance evaluation and rehabilitation strategy for waste stabilization ponds in Mexico.
Water Science and Technology 48 (2), 35–43.
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/04802wst048020035.htm

Mantilla, G., Moeller, G., Flores, R. and Pozo, F. (2002). The performance of waste
stabilization ponds in Mexico. In Pond Technology for the New Millennium, 69−73.
Auckland: New Zealand Water and Wastes Association.

Mara, D.D. (1997). Design Manual for Waste Stabilization Ponds in India. Leeds: Lagoon
Technology International.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/india/india.html

Mara, D.D. (2004). Domestic Wastewater Treatment in Developing Countries. London:

Earthscan Publications.

Mara, D.D. and Pearson, H.W. (1986). Artificial freshwater environments: waste
stabilization ponds. In Biotechnology, vol. 8. (ed. W. Schoenborn), pp. 177−206.
Weinheim: VCH Verlagsgesellschaft.

Mara, D.D., Alabaster, G.P., Pearson, H.W. and Mills, S.W. (1992). Waste Stabilization
Ponds: A Design Manual for Eastern Africa. Leeds: Lagoon Technology International.

Mara, D.D. and Pearson, H.W. (1992). Sequential batch-fed effluent storage reservoirs: a
new concept of wastewater treatment prior to unrestricted crop irrigation. Water Science
and Technology 26 (7−8), 1459−1464.

34 Waste Stabilisation Ponds

Mara, D.D. and Pearson, H.W. (1998). Design Manual for Waste Stabilization Ponds in
Mediterranean Countries. Leeds: Lagoon Technology International.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/med/medman.html

Mara, D.D. and Pearson, H.W. (1999). A hybrid waste stabilization pond and wastewater
storage and treatment reservoir system for wastewater reuse for both restricted and
unrestricted irrigation. Water Research 33 (2), 591–594.
http://dx.doi.org/ and enter doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(98)00238-3

Marais, G.v.R. (1974). Faecal bacterial kinetics in waste stabilization ponds. Journal of
the Environmental Engineering Division, American Society of Civil Engineers 100 (EE1),
119–139.

Oswald, W.J. (1976). Experiences with new pond designs in California. In Ponds as a
Wastewater Treatment Alternative (eds. E.F. Gloyna, J.F. Malina, and E.M. Davis), pp257–
272. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Oswald, W.J. (1991). Introduction to advanced integrated wastewater ponding systems.

Water Science and Technology 24 (5), 1−7.

Oswald, W.J. (1995). Ponds in the twenty-first century. Water Science and Technology 31
(12), 1−8.
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/03112/was031120001.htm

Parr, J. and Horan, N.J. (1994). Process Selection for Sustainable Wastewater
Management in Industrializing Countries. Tropical Public Health Engineering Research
Monograph No 2. Leeds: School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.

Pearson, H.W., Mara, D.D. and Bartone, C.R. (1987). Guidelines for the minimum
evaluation of the performance of full-scale waste stabilization ponds. Water Research 21
(9), 1067−1075.
http://dx.doi.org/ and enter doi:10.1016/0043-1354(87)90028-5

Peña, M.R. (2002). Advanced Primary Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in Tropical

Countries: Development of High-rate Anaerobic Ponds. PhD Thesis. Leeds: School of
Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/theses/penavaron/penavaron.html

Shelef, G. and Azov, Y. (2000). Meeting stringent environmental and reuse requirements
with an integrated pond system for the twenty-first century. Water Science and
Technology 42 (10), 299–305.
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/04210/wst042100299.htm

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 35

Shilton, A. and Harrison, J. (2003). Guidelines for the Hydraulic Design of Waste
Stabilization Ponds. Palmerston North: Institute of Technology and Engineering. Massey
University.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/civil/ceri/water/tphe/publicat/pdm/nzealand/nzealand.html

WHO (1989). Health Guidelines for the Use of Wastewater in Agriculture and Aquaculture.
Technical Report Series No. 778. Geneva: World Health Organization.
http://www.whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/who_trs_778.pdf

36 Waste Stabilisation Ponds

About IRC

IRC facilitates the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge so that governments,
professionals and organisations can better support poor men, women and children in
developing countries to obtain water and sanitation services they will use and maintain. It
does this by improving the information and knowledge base of the sector and by
strengthening sector resource centres in the South.

As a gateway to quality information, the IRC maintains a Documentation Unit and a web
site with a weekly news service, and produces publications in English, French, Spanish
and Portuguese both in print and electronically. It also offers training and experience-
based learning activities, advisory and evaluation services, applied research and learning
projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America; and conducts advocacy activities for the sector
as a whole. Topics include community management, gender and equity, institutional
development, integrated water resources management, school sanitation, and hygiene
promotion.

IRC staff work as facilitators in helping people make their own decisions; are equal
partners with sector professionals from the South; stimulate dialogue among all parties to
create trust and promote change; and create a learning environment to develop better
alternatives.

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre

P.O. Box 2869
2601 CW Delft
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)15 219 29 39
Fax. +31 (0)15 219 09 55
E-mail: general@irc.nl
Internet http://www.irc.nl

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 37