GIS-aided optimisation of faecal sludge management in developing countries: the case of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Gideon Sagoe,Felix Safo Danquah,Eric Simon Amofa-Sarkodie,Eugene Appiah-Effah,Elsie Ekumah,Emmanuel Kwaw Mensah,Kenneth Sefa Karikari

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02505

Gideon Sagoe, Felix Safo Danquah + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02505

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Journal: Heliyon	Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
Citations: 18	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Abstract

This study employed GIS tools to help optimise faecal sludge (FS) management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and its environs in Ghana. First, the rates of excreta generation, FS generation and FS collection were quantified based on literature, census and FS discharge data obtained from treatment plants in the study area. Next, we mapped the FS collection to the administrative areas in GAMA based on discharge records obtained from Lavender Hill, the main faecal treatment (FTP) and estimated the travel distance and travel time from the various FS desludging neighbourhoods to the plant. The results of the study show that the excreta and FS generation rates in GAMA are 604 L/cap/yr and 4,137 L/cap/yr, respectively. About 1 million m3 of FS was collected and treated in the study area in 2018, with a collection rate of 244 L/cap/yr. The private sector dominates this collection, haulage and treatment of FS in GAMA. The GIS analysis has provided fundamental data that will be useful in rationalising the FS emptying and transport cost in the study area. Moreover, it revealed that about 20–40% of the localities were outside the 15–25 km sustainable maximum transport distance recommended by some scholars. Finally, the findings highlight the importance of looking beyond administrative boundaries when planning for FS management logistics and infrastructure and also show that the most impoverished communities in the Accra metropolis may not necessarily be the least served when it comes to FS collection and haulage.

Highlights

Unlike the figure by Mansour and Esseku [14], which was based on only trucks registered with the AMA through two service operator associations, the number in this study covers all the trucks that discharge at the Lavender Hill faecal treatment plant (FTP), including those outside the AMA and those owned by the quasi-state institutions
The study has presented the case of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and its environs, in Ghana, regarding faecal sludge (FS) collection and haulage by employing Geographic information system (GIS) tools
Records obtained from the Lavender Hill FTP on the FS discharge from the neighbourhoods were used to map the collected FS to the districts in GAMA and its environs

Summary

Introduction

Targeted initiatives ensuring access to safe water and sanitation for all by the year 2030, as stated by goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are of emergent implementation for many developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia [2]. A semicentralised sanitation system is usually used to serve neighbourhoods or a cluster of homes and institutions via relatively short sewer systems. Onsite sanitation systems (OSSs) are used to treat excreta and wastewater, either partially or fully, at the point of generation [3]. The choice of sanitation management option implemented depends on factors such as available resources, population, the socio-economic disposition, the legal and institutional conditions, and the general development planning concept of an area [4]. Most middle to low-income countries are dominated by OSSs [5, 6] because they serve as a more economically sustainable option [7]

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