LUANDA: Sanitation Status
Sanitation provision in Luanda (capital of Angola) 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 Luanda.
This page is part of the fully editable open-access reference source on the sanitation status of all major cities in sub-Saharan Africa. The resource considers the 40 urban agglomerations in sub-Saharan Africa with a current population of 1 million or more. To read some of the other 40 country profiles, go back tothe resource Homepage.
N.B These pages should be considered as incomplete provisional drafts, and contributions are actively requested from specialists with expert local knowledge of each specific city.
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
Luanda is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 3.0 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a flat coastal city, without extensive swampy areas. Climate is hot semi-arid (Köppen classification BSh). Flooding of low-income settlements is frequent (MSF, 2006). Large-scale industrial activity includes oil refining, cement manufacture, zinc smelting, and iron foundry (Ferreira-Baptista & De Miguel 2005). We have no information on agricultural activity within the urban area. An estimated 80% of the population lives in low-income settlements (Palamuleni 2002). Angola suffered a long civil war terminating in 2002.
Water resources and supply: overview
The formal water supplu comes mainly from the Kwanzo and Bengo Rivers (ANIP 2003). A 1997 report (World Bank, 1997) states that Luanda's water supply system is in very poor condition, with the operating company, Empresa Provincial de Agua de Luanda (EPAL), unable to carry out normal functions such as maintenance, billing and maintaining accounts. Luanda’s two water production and treatment plants produce about 50% and 30% of their respective nominal capacity (reportedly about 213 thousand m3 per day in total) (ANIP 2003), and the distribution network supplies water to about 25% of the residents. The majority of the population, and virtually all low-income communities, depend on private truck-distributed water that is frequently untreated and can cost up to 10,000 times more than piped water (World Bank, 1997). See also Development Workshop (1999), Jenkins et al. (2002), Cain & Mulenga (2009).
Sanitation access
The central part of the city has a poorly functional sewerage system (see below), and in some areas septic tanks are widely used; however, most of the population in peri-urban informal settlements have low-quality household or communal latrines, while a significant minority have no access to toilets (World Bank 2005). A 1996 study in one low-income district (Sambizanga) indicated that less than 50% of households had toilets (Development Workshop 1999); in low-income households with a toilet, pour-flush latrines were the most frequent. Plastic bags (“flying toilets”) are also reported to be widely used for defecation in informal settlements (Bulfin 2009). A study of water and sanitation requirements in peri-urban areas was completed by Italian consultants in 2002 (World Bank 2005). Cholera is endemic, and diarrhoea-related infant mortality is reported to be extremely high (World Bank 1997).
Sewerage system
Luanda has a combined sewerage system serving the central area of the city, but “much of the network is reported to be in a state of virtual collapse” (World Bank 2005, LUPP 2007); rehabilitation of parts of this system was proposed under a World Bank project in the late 1990s (World Bank 1997), but this did not go ahead. A technical condition survey of the sewerage system was completed by French consultants in 2002 (World Bank 2005). There do not appear to be any significant endeavours to extend the sewerage system to low-income communities.
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
No detailed information currently available. There is no faecal sludge treatment facility. Septic tanks are emptied by private operators (World Bank 2005).
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
There is currently no treatment facility for wastewater or faecal sludge; wastewater from the sewerage system is discharged to the sea via a 2-km long outfall (World Bank 2005). A contract for maintenance of the sewerage system is reported to have been awarded to a private company, Urbana 2000 (World Bank 2005).
Sanitation in low-income districts
Informal peri-urban settlements occupied by migrants are known as musseques, with very poor water and sanitation access (Bulfin 2009). We are not aware of any detailed mapping of high-sanitation-need districts, or of any specific policy for sanitation improvement in informal settlements. Indeed, like Zimbabwe, Angola is applying an aggressive policy of forcable slum clearance: a 2007 Human Rights Watch report notes 19 mass evictions in Luanda slums over the period 2002 to 2006, affecting over 20,000 people and with no resettlement or compensation offered (HRW 2007). The Angolan NGO SOS-Habitat reports that mass evacuations continue as at 2010: see their website (http://www.angolaresistente.net/).
Responsibility
Treatment and disposal of wastewater, together with water supply, are the responsibility of provincial government. Water supply in Luanda is managed by the Empresa Pública de Águas de Luanda (EPAL), a public company with limited autonomy. As noted, a contract for maintenance of the sewerage system is reported to have been awarded to a private company, Urbana 2000 (World Bank 2005). There does not appear to be any single authority overseeing sewerage and onsite sanitation.
Sanitation masterplan?
Luanda does not currently appear to have either a sanitation masterplan or an urban masterplan covering sanitation. A provincial government press in December 2008 (Angola Press 2008) claimed that approval of a sanitation steering plan was a priority for 2009.
Sanitation financing
No specific information available.
Major investments and donor interventions
A major donor partnership is the Luanda Urban Poverty Program (http://www.dwangola.org/luppangola.org/), a partnership between CARE International, Development Workshop, Save the Children UK and One World Action, with support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
Sources and further reading
Further information may be available in recent references cited by Cain & Mulenga (2009), and/or from the Luanda Urban Poverty Program. Detailed information on institutional organisation and financing of water supply is provided by World Bank (2005).
LUPP [Luta contra Pobreza Urban, Luanda Urban Poverty Program]: ahttp://www.dwangola.org/luppangola.org/
References
Angola Press (2008) Sanitation priority for 2009 says Luanda Governor. Press release 11 Dec 2008. http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/angola-sanitation-priority-for-2009-says-luanda-governor/
ANIP [Angola National Private Investment Agency] (2003) The water sector. http://www.iie-angola-us.org/water.htm
Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de
Bulfin MP (2009) Bursting at the seams: water access and housing in Luanda. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies 35(1). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/21s037h0#
Cain A & Mulenga M (2009) Water service provision for the peri-urban poor in postconflict Angola. Human Settlements Working Paper Series. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London. http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs/10577IIED.pdf
Ferreira-Baptista L & de Miguel E (2005) Geochemistry and risk assessment of street dust in Luanda, Angola: A tropical urban environment, Atmospheric Environment 39(25): 4501-4512. DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.03.026.
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
Jenkins P, Robson P & Cain A (2002) Luanda. Cities 19 (2): 139-150. DOI: 10.1016/S0264-2751(02)00010-0.
Kulabako NR, Nalubega M & Thunvik R (2007) Study of the impact of land use and hydrogeological settings on the shallow groundwater quality in a peri-urban area of Kampala, Uganda. Science of The Total Environment 381(1-3): 180-199. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.03.035.
LUPP [Luta contra Pobreza Urbana] (2007) Model of community management of water: good practice in the musseques of Luanda. LUPP Good Practice Series. http://www.dw.angonet.org/dwWEB/english/pdf/watsan/Model%20for%20Household%20Sanitation%20in%20Luanda%27s%20Musseques%20-%20LUPP%202007.pdf
MSF (2006) Murky water: why the cholera epidemic in Luanda (Angola) was a disaster waiting to happen. Médecins Sans Frontières. http://www.msf.org/source/countries/africa/angola/2006/cholera_briefpaper.doc
Palamuleni LG (2002) Effect of sanitation facilities, domestic solid waste disposal and hygiene practices on water quality in Malawi's urban poor areas: a case study of South Lunzu Township in the city of Blantyre. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C
27 (11-12): 845-850. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-7065(02)00079-7
World Bank (1997) Project Appraisal: Luanda Water Supply and Sanitation Project. http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P050280
World Bank (2005) Private solutions for infrastructure in Angola. World Bank, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility. http://books.google.com/books?id=sePLA5MOhhkC&lpg=PP1&ots=dued78EYot&dq=%22Private%20solutions%20for%20infrastructure%20in%20Angola%22&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Sanitation provision in Luanda (capital of Angola) 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 Luanda.
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