On this page laboratory deployments with Austrian Red Cross participation will be showcased.
The first deployment of the Faecal Sludge Field Laboratory took it to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
IFRC Bangladesh People Movement Operation
In beginning of 2019 one Faecal Sludge Field Laboratory was deployed to the IFRC People Movement Operation to monitor and help optimise two faecal sludge treatment plants set-up by IFRC and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.
The Faecal Sludge Field Laboratory was set-up next to the IFRC office and first operated by international WASH laboratory experts and later on handed over operations to the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. The laboratory was set-up by Austrian, German and Ugandan Red Cross WASH experts and later on supported by delegates from the Swedish Red Cross.
The lab building consisted of two rooms next door to the main office. During the whole laboratory operation the two rooms were constantly adapted to optimise laboratory operation.
As part of the deployment a laboratory technician training was organised for local and international WASH experts. More information can be found in the training section.
The Faecal Sludge Field Laboratory was originally deployed to monitor two treatment plants
- the pilot of the IFRC Aerobic Faecal Waste Treatment Unit
- a lime treatment plant operated by the British Red Cross
After the Faecal Sludge Laboratory was set-up and well established additionally to the two Red Cross/Red Crescent movement plants, the effluents from faecal sludge treatment plant from other humanitarian aid organisations were analysed. This service was offered free of charge by the IFRC People Movement Operation.
Austrian Red Cross would like to use this place to thank all the Red Cross/Red Crescent laboratory technicians from three continents for their work in the Faecal Sludge Field Laboratory in Cox’s Bazar.