KUMASI: Sanitation Status
Sanitation provision in Kumasi (Ghana’s second-largest city) is grossly deficient, as in most cities in sub-Saharan Africa: most people do not have access to a hygienic toilet; large amounts of faecal waste are discharged to the environment without adequate treatment; this is likely to have major impacts on infectious disease burden and quality of life (Hutton et al. 2007). This article briefly summarizes the current sanitation situation in Kumasi.
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Table of Contents
- Background information
- Water resources and supply: overview
- Sanitation access
- Sewerage system
- Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
- Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
- Sanitation in low-income districts
- Responsibility
- Sanitation masterplan?
- Sanitation financing
- Major investments and donor interventions
- Sources and further reading
- References
- Other City Profiles
Background information
Kumasi is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 1.6 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a fairly flat inland city located on a low ridge; much of the city drains south to the Sisa-Oda system, but the northwestern part of the city drains west to the Offin/Owaabi systems (from which the water supply is extracted) (CEDAR 1999). Climate is tropical wet and dry (Köppen classification Aw). Significant flooding occurs (The Chronicle 2009). Pollutant industrial activity includes food-processing. There is significant agricultural activity within the urban area (Afrane et al. 2003). A large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements.
Water resources and supply: overview
The formal water supply comes mainly from reservoirs on the Offin and Owaabi Rivers. Current demand is estimated at 75 million m3 per annum, but current production capacity is only 32 million m3 per annum (Kuma et al. 2010). Extensive details on the current water supply, projected demand and distribution performance are given by Kuma et al. (2010); these authors suggest that increasing use of boreholes will be necessary. We do not currently have city-wide information on water access; in low-income districts, only about 30% of the population is reported to have in-plot or communal standpipe access to the piped water supply (WSUP 2009).
Sanitation access
Some wealthy and middle-income households in Kumasi have septic tanks (about 20% of the population); most other middle-income households use either improved household latrines or unhygienic public latrines; most low-income households are dependent on unhygienic public latrines. WSUP (2009) estimates that in low-income districts only about 28% of the population has adequate sanitation. As noted for Accra, public latrines are much more widely used in Ghana than in most other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Quantitative data for Kumasi are also given by Oduro-Kwarteng (2009), who report sanitation access data for 1990 (from Whittington 1992) and partial data for about 2008 (precise date not given). As at 1990, 25% used flush toilets to septic tanks, 40% public pit latrines, 25% bucket latrines, 5% household pit latrines, and 5% open defecation; the city at this time had about 400 public latrines in low- and middle-income areas. For 2008, Oduro-Kwarteng et al. (2009) present data for households with and without improved toilets. Among households without improved toilets, only 14% used bucket latrines (following municipal rulings against bucket latrine use); the remaining 86% used public toilets, mostly pit latrines. Most public toilet users reported dissatisfaction with the cleanliness and with distance from their house; though certainly some public toilet facilities are of reasonable quality. Among households with improved toilets (in many cases obtained under Kumasi Muncipal Authority subsidy programmes), 80% had ventilated improved pit latrines and 20% septic tanks. Public toilets are generally franchised out to private-sector operators (Mensah 2006). Although not mentioned by either Whittington (1992) or Oduro-Kwarteng (2009), a small area of central Kumasi has a functional sewerage system serving about 3300 households: see next section. There has been some small-scale use of dry sanitation (see Thrift 2007; also a public toilet in Kotei district, Guy Norman, unpublished obersavations 2009).
Sewerage system
Kumasi has a small low-cost sewerage scheme serving about 300 middle-income and low-middle-income households in a district in the centre of the city, Asafo (Salifu 1997). This is one of the few low-cost sewerage schemes to have been implemented to date in sub-Saharan Africa; as at 2010, the system is functioning well, and over 90% of households in the district are connected (Guy Norman, unpublished observations). The scheme is financed through a sewerage tariff on the water bill (Salifu 1997). The system discharges to a lagoons-based treatment plant close to the centre of the city. Further investment in sewerage is rejected by the Kumasi municipal authorities as too costly.
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
According to the Waste Management Department (Mensah 2006), Kumasi has well-developed policy and infrastructure for faecal sludge management. Private-sector tanker operators are licensed by the Kumasi Waste Management Division, and licences can be revoked for dumping at unauthorized sites. There is a recently built faecal sludge treatment plant.
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
Kumasi has a small lagoons-based treament facility serving the Asafo sewerage scheme. As noted, there is a recently built lagoons-based faecal sludge treatment system, integrated with a solid waste landfill site (the Dompoase Landfill and Septage Treatment Facility) (Mensah 2006). We do currently have detailed information about this interesting facility. We are not aware of other integrated landfill/sludge treatment facilities elsewhere in Africa.
Sanitation in low-income districts
We are not currently aware of any detailed mapping of high-sanitation-need districts; hwoever, it is possible that such mapping is available. The Strategic Sanitation Plan includes specific consideration of sanitation improvement in informal settlements; however, it is not clear to what extent such policies are being applied: as noted above, most low-income settlements are dependent on grossly unhygienic public pit latrines. WSUP (see below) is currently planning sanitation interventions in five low-income districts (Oforikrom, Adukrom, Akorem, Kotei and Gyenyase); WSUP (2009) gives useful information on sanitation characteristics in these districts.
Responsibility
Responsibility for both onsite sanitation and sewerage lies with the Waste Management Division of Kumasi Muncipal Authority. The Environmental Health Division is responsible for hygiene education. For more detailed information, see Thrift (2007).
Sanitation masterplan?
Kumasi has a Strategic Sanitation Plan for the period 1995-2005, developed with World Bank assistance; see Salifu (2000). As far as we are aware this plan is not available online, and we do not know if it is being updated and applied.
Sanitation financing
Detailed studies of willingness-to-pay for sanitation improvements were carried out in Kumasi in the early 1990s (Whittington et al. 1992). Oduro-Kwarteng et al. (2009) report interesting data on the socioeconomic characteristics of households that benefited and did not benefit from a municipal subsidy programme for household latrine construction: about 20% of beneficiaries were low-income households, 60% middle-income, and 20% high-income. By contrast, 66% of sampled non-beneficiaries were low-income households, 34% middle-income, and none high-income. The Asafo sewerage scheme (see above) is financed through a sewerage tariff on the water bill; Salifu (1997) provides a useful analysis of this system.
Major investments and donor interventions
WSUP is currently planning a water and saniation intervention in five low-income districts of Kumasi (Oforikrom, Adukrom, Akorem, Kotei and Gyenyase). The first phase will be in the district of Kotei; as at May 2010, we do not know whether this project has commenced. The project will involve provision of communal standpipes and improved public toilets, all with hand-washing facilities, to be run by private franchisers; the project will also include provision of a desludging truck to Kumasi Waste Management Division. Information about this project: http://www.wsup.com/whatwedo/kumasi.htm
Sources and further reading
Kumasi’s sanitation system has received considerable research attention. Useful starting points include the WEDC library (http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/knowledge/know.html) and references cited in the publications listed below. A useful recent overview is that of Thrift (2007). The ongoing WSUP project (see above) is of great interest.
References
Afrane YA et al. (2003) Does irrigated urban agriculture influence the transmission of malaria in the city of Kumasi, Ghana? Acta Tropica 89(2): 125−134.
Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de
CEDAR (1999) Inception report: Peri-urban natural resources management at the watershed level, Kumasi. http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/kumasi/Inception/inception.html
Crook R & Ayee J (2006) Urban service partnerships, 'street-level bureaucrats' and environmental sanitation in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana: coping with organizational change in the public bureaucracy. http://www2.ids.ac.uk/gdr/cfs/pdfs/Urban%20partnerships%20DPR%20article.pdf
Dahlman K (2009) Modeling sanitation scenarios in developing countries. A case study in Kumasi, Ghana. Masters thesis, University of Uppsala. http://www.env-impact.geo.uu.se/141Dahlman.pdf
Hutton G, Haller L & Bartram J (2007) Economic and health effects of increasing coverage of low cost household drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to countries off-track to meet MDG target 10. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. http://www.irc.nl/page/38443
Koanda H (2006) Vers un assainissement urbain durable en Afrique Subsaharienne : approche innovante de planification de la gestion des boues de vidange. http://www.fr.irc.nl/page/35304
Kuma JS (2010) Evaluating the water supply system in Kumasi, Ghana. European Journal of Scientific Research 40(4): 506−514. http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr_40_4_03.pdf
Mensah A (2006) Faecal sludge management in Kumasi: perspective as seen by the Municipality. First International Sympsoium / Wirkshop on Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) Polcicy. Dakar, Senegal, 9-12 May 2006. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/mensah.pdf
Mensah A, Cofie O & Montangero A (2003) Lessons from a pilot co-composting plant in Kumasi, Ghana. 29th WEDC International Conference, Abuja, Nigeria, 2003. http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/resources/conference/29/Mensah.pdf
Oduro-Kwarteng S, Awuah E & Nyarko KB (2009) Shifting from public shared toilets to home toilets in urban settlements: Implications of household demand in Kumasi, Ghana. 34th WEDC International Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009. http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/resources/conference/34/Oduro-Kwarteng_S_-_275.pdf
Salifu L (1997) Sewerage maintenance management in Ghana. 23rd WEDC International Conference, Durban, South Africa, 1997.
Salifu L (2000) Strategic sanitation planning in project replication : the Kumasi experience. Internet publication. http://www.globenet.org/preceup/pages/ang/chapitre/capitali/experien/kumasi.htm
The Chronicle (2009) “KMA boss tours flooded areas in Kumasi”. News report 13 Jul 2009. http://allafrica.com/stories/200907131709.html
Thrift C (2007) Sanitation policy in Ghana: key factors and the potential for ecological sanitation solutions. EcoSanRes Programme, Stockholm Environment Institute. http://www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/SanitationPolicyInGhana-CharlesThrift.pdf
UNEP/GRID-Arendal (2002) Water availability in Africa. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/water_availability_in_africa.
Whittington D et al. (1992) Household demand for improved sanitation services: a case study of Kumasi, Ghana. UNDP-World Bank: Washington, DC. Not available online.
WSUP (2009) Kumasi Fact File. http://www.wsup.com/whatwedo/kumasi.htm
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