Good operation and maintenance (O&M) is essential for the long-term sustainability of any sewerage system, but particularly for simplified sewerage, since the small diameter of pipes and low gradients make the system highly vulnerable to clogging. Solids can readily block the small diameter piping and the shallow grade of pipe alignment prevents sewage flow from reaching scouring velocity, meaning that solids fall out of suspension and depositing within the low gradient pipe before reaching the downstream receiving body.
The original concept of householders being responsible for O&M of in-block condominial sewers has not worked well in the long term. A study of simplified sewerage systems in Brazil has shown that effective maintenance of sewers by utilities has often been the result of community pressure by neighborhood associations. Without such pressure maintenance by utilities has often been inadequate, and community maintenance has not come about either.
Few situation exist where simplified sewers are appropriate sanitation solutions to install. Therefore, alternative management systems had to be developed to mitigate the high issues of simplified sewers, and a few examples are provided below:
* In rural Ceará a villager is employed by the Residents’ Association to maintain the sewers and the wastewater treatment plant (typically, a single facultative waste stabilization pond). He is also responsible for the water supply.
* In parts of Recife in northeast Brazil the state water and sewerage company employs local contracting firms for O&M. Usually this is done by a small team comprising a technician engineer and two laborers who work in a low-income area served by simplified sewerage and to whom residents report any problems.
* In Brasília the water and sewerage company, which has over 1,200 km of condominial sewers, uses van-mounted water jet units to clear any blockages.
Concerning maintenance costs, available information indicates similar costs and requirements for the simplified and the conventional system under the same conditions. Simplified systems typically require more interventions, but the cost per intervention is lower. Comparative analytical studies are not yet available, however.