Abstract
In the coastal cities of West Africa, land use change, rapid population growth, bad sanitation systems and poor environmental governance degrade the quality of groundwater. This study aimed to assess alternative, acceptable, affordable sanitation disposal and practices for groundwater quality rehabilitation in the cities of Cotonou and Lome. The study was based on the participatory transdisciplinary approach, field surveys, feedback from interactions with stakeholders, experiences of the practitioners and institutional consultations. This multi-stakeholder approach helped to appreciate ecological aspects of sanitation disposal and its implications on water quality improvement. SWOT model was used to analyze the relevance of assessed ecological system. Well water quality is deteriorated by traditional waste management disposal. Ecological sanitation systems are septic tanks on polyethylene, above-ground latrines and phytoremediation technique in the swamp areas. Collected wastes are used for composting and biogas production. Based on the optimist scenario at 2030 horizon, kind success factors of groundwater security are participation of citizens, existence of sanitation market, valorization of the waste by category, low-cost disposal adaptable to the individual, household and neighborhood’s scales. The strategic directions rely on funding and public policies for WASH, ecological sanitation disposal, cultural environment and good sanitation practices for emergence of new sanitation system to secure and sustain well water quality. But the social acceptability of ecological disposal is limited by the society’s multicultural heritage. These findings could help in decision-making concerning urban groundwater quality protection in the African coastal cities.
Highlights
Groundwater is a vital source of drinking water in African towns and cities; this resource has often been compromised by the combined use of aquifers as a repository for human waste [1] [2] contamination sources such as wastewater basin, latrines and gutters
We explore a highly interconnected relationship between human societies and ecosystems defined by Royce and Behailu [20] to positively impact the hydro system by safe sanitation
In the middle cities of Burkina Faso, Bouraima [54] revealed the human-waste relationship in its multidimensionality. These behaviors linked to the traditional waste management system contribute to the degradation of groundwater quality because of the fracture of the equilibrium between the social and ecological systems
Summary
Groundwater is a vital source of drinking water in African towns and cities; this resource has often been compromised by the combined use of aquifers as a repository for human waste [1] [2] contamination sources such as wastewater basin, latrines and gutters. In the cities of Cotonou and Lomé, the available groundwater has a poor quality ( inaccessible) because of poor sanitation and inappropriate hygienic practices In these towns, the basic disposal of wastes and excreta management are gutters, swamps, sumps, streets, courtyards of house, pit latrine and septic tank [5] [6] [7] [8]. Socio-ecological mechanisms of solid, liquid and excreta waste management can reduce groundwater pollution To this end, we explore a highly interconnected relationship between human societies and ecosystems defined by Royce and Behailu [20] to positively impact the hydro system by safe sanitation
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