Ecological Sanitation Potential in Busia Town,

Uganda

Emel Aysel Tuna

Degree project for Master of Science in

Environmental Science

June 2008

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

University of Gothenburg

UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG



Sammanfattning

Tillgång till vatten och sanitet är alla människors rättigheter, men trots det finns det många människor i världen som inte har tillgång till de mest grundläggande behoven, främst i Afrika. Denna uppsats bygger på en fältstudie i Busia Town i Uganda. Bristen eller avsaknaden på grundläggande och enkla sanitära lösningar i Busia Town har orsakat flera problem som t.ex. direkta utsläpp av avloppsvatten till närmiljöer. Även bristen på tillgång till rent och känligt dricksvatten är påtaglig, och många människor tar sitt vatten från grävda brunnar eller från åar vars vattenkvalitet är undermåligt. Bristfällig eller total avsaknad av kontinuerlig avfallslösning och hämtning är också problem som leder till besvär för människor som lever i området. Dessa problem leder dels till kontamination av närmiljön dels till hälsoproblem. Malaria och mag-tarm sjukdomar är de vanligaste sjukdomarna i Busia Town, och det är speciellt redan utsatta och känsliga personer som drabbas av dem. Genom mycket enkla medel kan flera av dessa problem lösas, t.ex. genom införande av alternativa sanitetssystem som är anpassade till platsen i kombination med ökad upplysning och medvetenhet. Ekologisk sanitet är ett sanitetssystem som bygger på ett kretsloppskoncept, där fekalier och urin samlas in separerat, hygieniseras och sedan kan återanvänds som jordförbättrings- och gödningsmedel i bl.a. handelsträdgårdar, jordbruk m.fl. Detta resulterar i att närmiljön skonas från utsläpp, så att vatten- och jordmiljö inte kontamineras av patogener och närsalter. Denna avfallshantering och omhändertagande av biologisk avfall leder till mindre avfallsmängd och förstörelse i området. Busia Towns medborgare kan härigenom med enkla medel få en bättre närmiljö, hälsa och livskvalitet.

Summary

Every human being has a right to basic water and sanitation access, but despite of that there are many people in the world especially in Africa who are without access to either clean water or simple sanitation system. This thesis is based on a field study on the situation in Busia Town in Uganda. Lack or absence on fundamental and simple sanitation in Busia Town has lead to several problems as for example direct discharge of wastewater to the surrounding environment. Even access to good water quality is missing and many people use water sources as dig wells and springs, which usually have inferior water quality. Lack of a continuous waste solution and collection is also a problem which leads to problems for people living in the area. These problems contribute to environmental contamination as well as to health problems. Malaria and intestinal diseases are the major diseases in Busia Town, where the most fragile and sensitive people are most affected. Through very simple means several of these problems can be solved, for instance by installation of alternative sanitation systems, which are adapted to the site in combination with enlightening and awareness. Ecological sanitation is a sanitation system build on a recycling concept, where faeces and urine are separated, sterilized and later reused as soil improver and fertilizer in gardening, agriculture etc. This means that the near surrounding and environment is protected from wastewater discharge, so that no water and soil environments are contaminated from pathogens and other pollutants. This kind of waste management takes care of the biological waste, and makes it into a resource, and so contributes to less waste amount and disturbance on the areas. Busia Towns citizens will by these very simple means get better environment, health and life quality.


Foreword

I would like to thank the administration in Applied Environmental Science at Gothenburg’s University and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for granting me the Minor Field Study scholarship, which made this study and my visit to Uganda during the period of 20 July to 4 October 2007 possible. I am thankful for my Swedish supervisors Zsofia Ganrot and Göran Dave at the Department of Applied Environmental Science at Gothenburg’s University for supervising and helping me with my continuing work after the field work back in Sweden. I am very thankful for my local supervisor Ina Jurga technical advisor German Development Service (DED) in Uganda for all her help, with advice, establishment of contacts and introduction with people. I want also to thank Boris Bisa technical advisor DED Busia Town Council, Kristina Mayr, Alice Akii and the remaining staff at DED Uganda for welcoming and helping me when it was needed.

Thanks to Peter Nabunwa health official, Teopista Nagajja, environment official, Tom Massa water department official and the remaining staff at Busia Town Council and Joyce Nabwire at Samia Bugwe North (Solo parish) Health Centre. I am very grateful for Youth Environmental Service (YES) help and guidance in Busia Town. I am especially thankful for Amosiah, Denis, Jane, Joseph, Gloria, Herbert, Rashid, Ritzik and Linet for their help (see Appendix F and Photo 10).

Finally would I like to thank my family for their support and encouragement with my thesis.

Emel Aysel Tuna

June 2008


Content

Sammanfattning - 3 -

Summary - 3 -

Foreword - 3 -

1. Introduction - 3 -

1.1 UN’s MN goal - 3 -

1.2 Uganda - 3 -

1.2.1 Laws, regulations etc. in Uganda. - 3 -

1.2.2 Ecological Sanitation in Uganda - 3 -

1.2.3 Busia Town - 3 -

1.3 Objectives of this study - 3 -

1.3.1 Purpose - 3 -

1.3.2 Limitations - 3 -

1.3.3 Questions - 3 -

2 Method - 3 -

2.1 Literature - 3 -

2.2 Field study - 3 -

2.2.1 Survey in Busia Town - 3 -

2.2.2 Questions - 3 -

2.2.3 Personal communication - 3 -

2.3 Questionnaire - 3 -

2.3.1 Structure - 3 -

2.4 Additional information - 3 -

3. Results from literature study - 3 -

3.1 Sanitation Techniques - 3 -

3.1.1 Dry techniques - 3 -

3.1.2 Wet techniques - 3 -

3.2 Wastewater - 3 -

3.2.1 What is wastewater? - 3 -

3.2.2 Wastewater treatment - 3 -

3.2.3 Effects on soil and water environments - 3 -

3.2.4 Pathogens in wastewater - 3 -

3.2.5 Disease transmission - 3 -

3.2.6 Health aspects - 3 -

3.2.7 Prevention and protection - 3 -

3.3 Ecological sanitation projects in Uganda - 3 -

4. Results from the field study - 3 -

4.1 Social and cultural aspects - 3 -

4.2 Water aspects - 3 -

4.3 Sanitation aspects - 3 -

4.4 Without sanitation aspect - 3 -

4.5 Waste aspect - 3 -

4. 6 Health aspect - 3 -

5. Discussion - 3 -

5.1 Literature study - 3 -

5. 2 Survey study - 3 -

6. Conclusion - 3 -

7. References - 3 -

8. Appendix - 3 -

Appendix A Map A. Areas of Busia Town Council - 3 -

Appendix B Map B. Busia Town with Solo A and Marach parishes - 3 -

Appendix C Questionnaire - 3 -

Appendix D Technical features - 3 -

Appendix E Result from field study - 3 -

Appendix F Photos - 3 -

1. Introduction

1.1 UN’s MN goal

Africa is the world’s poorest continent and has not been able to develop in economical, environmental and social level as the other continents. The current environmental aim in the world is, concerning many countries and United Nations, to achieve and solve some of the problems as access to safe and clean water and basic sanitation. United Nations stated in 2000 eight millennium goals, with purpose to improve many countries current situation to a better level, and there are some targets to be achieved to 2015 and forward. The seventh goal is about to ensure environmental sustainability, and it contains specific aims such as: ensure environmental sustainability and integrate the principles of sustainable development in to country policies and programmes, reverse loss of environmental resources, reduce half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020 (UN, 2007a).

If the seventh goal of basic sanitation and safe access to drinking water can be achieved it will affect many people, especially women and children in Africa. Some UN reports indicate that lack of basic sanitation influence on children’s education, especially girl pupils, who do not tend to go to school if there are no accesses to school toilets. Most households in African countries, for example Uganda, do not usually have sanitation inside their houses (many households use and have access to shared pit latrines). Pit latrines are of various conditions, some safe to use while others due to fragile walls, insecure pit- holes etc. are not safe to use. An insecure and dangerous pit latrine is if it still is in use, dangerous to human safety, especially for small children, elderly persons and women. Women, who do not have access to sanitation, are forced to walk long distance to find an appropriate area as open field for urination and defecation. They tend to do it after darkness, because of the shame of being seen at daytime in that area. Because of the night activities small children and women risk being raped, snake bitten, encounter wild animals etc. Open defecation and urination is also contributing to great environmental and health problems to nearest surrounding as soil and groundwater contamination by faeces (and urine) of pathogens and nutrients as nitrates and phosphorus. Besides the environmental effects pathogens in water and soil are threatening for human health.

Water problem is also a major problem since access to safe and clean drinking water is not sufficient in many African countries. People (mostly children and women but also vendors) walk shorter or longer distances to collect water, regardless of the water quality. This time-consuming task puts children and women to spend most of their time to bring water to the household and affects their ability to do other more important work. Children helps with domestic work instead of going to school and get education and women lose opportunity to contribute with income to the family since they spend too much time with domestic work (UN, 2007c). Africa’s development and aim to ensure environmental suitability may take some time to achieve. Only 42 % of people in rural areas had access to clean water and 63 % of the entire population lacks access to basic sanitation facilities. It had decrease with 5% from 68% (lacking access to basic sanitation) in 1990, and if it develops at this rate the target to ensure of cutting this proportion by half in 2015 not be possible. The effects of climate change in the world are already disturbing some of the world’s most sensitive regions and will make it more difficult to achieve the millennium goals, especially on the subcontinent. Between 75 and 250 million people will be exposed to an increase of water stress according to projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and without adequate preparation, the impact could be devastating to rural economies and the livelihoods of the poor (UN, 2007b).

1.2 Uganda

Uganda is a republic and has approximately 28 million inhabitants where more than 1 million lives in the capital Kampala. English is the official language, but they have other local languages as well, the most widely spoken languages beside English are Luganda, Ateso, Swahili and Arabic. Uganda have a variety of mixed religious groups, Christians are the dominated group with Catholic 41% and Anglican 35 %, Muslims represents 12% of the population and the rest are traditional religions, with 0.7% classified as Hindus and Judaism. Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils and sizable mineral deposits of cupper and cobalt. Although Uganda is on the equator, its climate is warm rather than hot, and temperatures vary little throughout the year. Most of the territory receives an annual regular rainfall of at least 1000 mm. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force, with coffee accounting the bulk of export revenues. The main export countries are Kenya, Japan, USA, EU and India. According to IMF statistics in 2004, Uganda's GDP per capita reached 300 dollars per year. Uganda is an economical poor country with high unemployment rate; few have a regular work and many have irregular work as market sellers. Uganda has major environmental problems: green woodlands are diminishing when the trees, undergrowth vegetation is chopped down to give more soil areas for agriculture and an increasing population (Landguiden, 2007).

Uganda has, in general, not sufficient functioning water and sanitation system. The supply of hygienically safe drinking water and the disposal of wastewater are mostly poor/ lacking in urban areas. The rural areas have, considering to urban areas, more problems with distribution of fresh water, the water pipelines are limited and are consequently more expensive. Even if Uganda has rich water resources, water is still expensive, and the poor suffers mostly from the high prices. The wastewater problem is even more problematic compared to the water problem. In Kampala wastewater treatment is implemented. For other urban and rural areas the situation is much worse, since there is no wastewater managing at all. Currently only 70 % of the urban population in large towns and 65 % in small towns has access to a safe water supply, and only 8 % are connected to a wastewater system (GTZ, 2007c). Uganda’s water- and sanitation problem can be solved with some shifting in management and governance in the urban and rural water supply and sanitation sector. Living conditions particularly for the urban poor will worsen unless it is not possible to increase efficiency and effectiveness through reform in this sector (DED, 2007). Uganda has been receiving help in these problem areas and with help and support from foreign countries, NGO’s the water and sanitation problem in Uganda is gradually changing. The most important focus is on improved safe drinking water access and sanitary facilities for the poor people. Beside the above mentioned effort the German Development Service (DED) operates at present several ongoing ecological sanitation projects in Uganda (DED, 2007).

1.2.1 Laws, regulations etc. in Uganda.

Uganda has environmental, water and health acts, regulations and policy’s regarding environment, water, sanitation, waste and health matters. The chapters, sections, principles and parts are well written even if most of the acts and regulations are mainly for the implementation and management designed for the authorities (but they are also directing to citizens to implement them in the ordinary life, take actions to protect the environment, health etc.). The national environmental act, health act, regulations etc. is relatively new and laws has progressively been more and more implemented with the development of local, district and governmental institutions. There are still some difficulties for the law enforcement in the environmental health improvement issues and the health officials and their duties continue to progress (The Republic of Uganda, 2005d). The National Environmental Act has been in use since 1995. Beside the general principles (principles of environment management and right to a decent environment) are the other following parts about and directed to instructional work and guidance (The Republic of Uganda, 1995c). Every citizen has the right to a healthy environment in Uganda where they (citizens) have a duty to maintain and enhance the environment and if there is any negative impact and effects on the environment due to citizens activities or omissions they are obligated to correct the faulty. A public official have right to take measurements to prevent or stop the persons who with their activities affects the environment (National Environment Act, section three). Health officials in towns have from time to time inspected the sanitation situation in their district, especially in cholera epidemic situations have some citizens been arrested. Due to law break, not protecting the environment etc., where some citizens who lack basic/ proper sanitation facilities, have been arrested for failing to build toilets and contributing to contamination to the environment and endangering human health (Reuters, 2007).