Context
It is estimated that only a fraction of the one million tons of wastewater sludge is processed safely in Uzbek wastewater treatment plants. Around 93% of the wastewater generated by the densely populated Namangan province is discharged with a high risk of leakage to rivers and agricultural areas. As most areas are not connected to any wastewater treatment system, wastewater leakage threatens to contaminate the water, soil and food crops of the region.