The Mobile Treatment Unit (MTU) is an onsite faecal sludge treatment technology developed by the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASH Institute). It is a treatment system mounted on the bed of a small truck and treats the effluent of septic tanks onsite. The MTU treated septage effluent meets India’s disposal standards. The on-site Mobile septage Treatment Unit works with the concept of solid-liquid separation, sludge thickening and effluent treatment processes.  While the liquid is separated from the solid, the effluent passes through the treatment process and disposes the treated effluent. The sludge thickening process helps to further reduce the moisture content in the sludge. The operational capacity of the MTU varies from 3000 to 6000 lits/hr. The total cost of each mobile treatment unit is much lower than the septage emptying trucks used by the private operators. The onsite technology is easy to operate with lower operational & maintenance cost.

The MTU attempts to address several barriers to achieving safely managed septic waste and is designed is such a way that it is replicable across geography and is financially scalable.In general, the septage consists of higher volumes of liquid than solids and most of the truck operators carry the septage (solid & liquid) to the treatment/disposal sites, adding an extra burden on the transportation cost. The higher flow rate of MTU therefore helps in emptying& treatingmorenumber of septic tanks per day, bringing down the operational cost of the truck, especially its fuel cost, maximizing the profit. If the truck operators pass on this benefit to the Households/customers, then customers will get to pay less for desludging services. Secondly, the treatment facilities will also benefit due to less volumetric load

The ‘Pit Life Extender’ isa compact septage treatment unit and is meant for treatment of liquid effluent of household septic tanks and leach pits in water logging areas, on daily basis. The liquid from the pit or tank islifted using a small submersible pump through a primary filter arrangement in order to check the solid materials within the pit and send only the effluent through the filter system to discharge treated water. The treatment capacity is 25 litres/hour. As the septage contains high volume of liquid, using this product will extend the emptying period of pit/tank considerably and also prevent the overflow of the septage in open drains as most of the septic tanks in urban areas are not connected to dispersion trenches. This product also helps to check the environmental pollution by discharging the treated effluent in open.