Evaluation of wastewater treatment alternatives in Kenya
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Date
1991
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Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Treatment of domestic and i n d u s t r i a l wastes is a recent
endeavour in Kenya that became a requirement in every town soon
a f t e r Kenya attained her independence some 28 years ago. During
t h i s period, a tremendous change i n domestic waste c o l l e c t i o n and
treatment has taken place in the e n t i r e country whereby d i f f e r e nt
types of wastewater treatment a l t e r n a t i v e s have been constructed in
various towns.
Most of these treatment a l t e r n a t i v e s pose operation and
maintenance problems due to t h e i r complexity, lack of spare parts
f o r the broken machineries and equipment, lack of q u a l i f i e d s t a ff
and lack of attention of these plants from senior c o u n c i l s t a f f.
This report examines the design, construction, operation and
maintenance of various e x i s t i n g treatment a l t e r n a t i v e s . Effluent
data from a l l sources has shown a Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
l e v e l almost constantly higher than the 20 mg/1 standard set for
any effluent discharged into n a t u r a l r i v e r s.
After comparing a l l the a l t e r n a t i v e s , i t has been concluded
t h a t f a c u l t a t i v e waste s t a b i l i z a t i o n pond or oxidation d i t c h (where
the topography of the land i s not s u i t a b l e for a pond) are best
s u i t e d for future wastewater treatment in Kenya. These w i l l simply
operation f a i l u r e due to lack of q u a l i f i e d s t a f f and avoid spare
p a r t and maintenance costs.