Abstract
In Kara (Togo), as in most major sub-Saharan African cities, there is very little sewerage and autonomous systems are the most commonly used. These autonomous systems produce faecal sludge that must be drained and treated adequately in order to preserve the health of the population and protect the environment. Indeed, the risks are real, given the use of fresh faecal sludge in agriculture and the potential dangers of their raw rejection in nature. The purpose of this study was to quantify and characterize the faecal sludge derived from autonomous sanitation system and make available to the district of Kara. Sludge emptying trucks have been followed during a three months’ period to quantify the faecal sludge produced. At the end, samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis. The chemical analysis conducted were suspended matter (SM), chemical oxygen demand (COD), a five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonium (NH4+), nitrates (NO3-), nitrites (NO2-) and orthophosphates (PO43-). The result showed that 41347.2 m3/year of faecal sludge are produced and 14616 m3/year are collected. Also, the chemical analysis of total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, a five-day biochemical oxygen demand, ammonium, nitrates, nitrites and orthophosphates showed that the faecal sludge of the district of Kara is biodegradable. The data from this study will form scientific bases for a better feasibility of setting up a faecal sludge treatment plant in Kara. Key words: Faecal sludge, specific ratio, quantity of faecal sludge, autonomous systems.
Highlights
Increasing urbanization is a phenomenon sweeping across the world especially in developing countries (Ahamada et al, 2016)
Calculations of sludge produced considered the specific production to 1 L/person/day for domestic septic tanks, 0.2 L/person/day for dry latrines and 2 L/person/day for public tanks (Table 1)
Temperature averages recorded for Dry Latrines (DL), Domestic Septic Tank (DST) and Public Septic Tanks (PST) during the study period is respectively 26.2 ± 0.01, 27.8 ± 0.01 and 26.4 ± 0.01°C
Summary
Increasing urbanization is a phenomenon sweeping across the world especially in developing countries (Ahamada et al, 2016). The population of sub-Saharan African cities use autonomous sanitation (septic tanks) facilities for the management of wastewater and excreta (Bassan et al, 2013; Kajyibwami, 2018) which use self-sustaining wastewater treatment technology (Gnagne et al, 2019). This technology, suitable for these cities, remains poorly implemented, suffering from the inadequacy of certain scientific database data (Gnagne et al, 2019). The sludge emptied in latrines and septic tanks is either dumped near the city or in the environment without treatment (Kouawa et al, 2015)
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