OUGADOUGOU: Sanitation Status
Sanitation provision in Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso) 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 Ouagadougou.
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
Ouagadougou is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 1.4 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a flat city on a inland plateau. Climate is hot semi-arid (Köppen classification Aw). Flooding is frequent and severe: for example, about 150,000 people were forced to leave their homes in September 2009, and at least 7 people were killed (BBC News 5 September 2009; OCHA, 2009). Pollutant industrial activity is largely limited to food-processing. There is significant agricultural activity within the urban area, and agricultural activity may be associated with malaria risk (Wang et al. 2005). A large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements, including very poor informal settlements.
Water resources and supply: overview
Water comes mainly from reservoirs on rivers of the Nakambé watershed; groundwater resources are minor. Until recently supply was mainly from small local reservoirs on the Massili River, a tributary of the Nakambé that flows through Ouagadougou (UNEP 2002), but recently a major reservoir of the Nakambé has been completed at Ziga, 50 km from the city; for detailed information, see World Bank (2001), UNEP (2002), World Bank (2008). Burkina Faso is projected to suffer water stress (the most severe category) in 2025 (UNEP/GRID-Arendal 2002).
Sanitation access
Most of the population (about 70%) use traditional pit latrines; smaller proportions use other types of latrine or septic tank, while a significant minority practice open defecation; there is a very small sewerage network in the city centre. [Precise estimates differ between sources. The Ouagadougou Strategic Sanitation Plan (WSP 2002) states that about 70% of the population use traditional pit latrines, 5% use improved pit latrines or septic tanks, and about 7% practice open defecation (1999 data; note that these figures sum to only 82%). An AFD evaluation (AFD 2008) states that about 75% of the population uses traditional pit latrines, 18% use vault latrines (latrines à fosses étanches), and 5% septic tanks (1998 data).] Note that this is an endemic malaria region, and malaria incidence is high, especially in peri-urban areas close to urban agriculture plots (Wang et al. 2005).
Sewerage system
An AFD-funded project terminating in 2006 constructed a small sewerage network (9 km of sewer mains, 34 km of secondary sewer, 3 pumping stations) serving the centre of the city (AFD 2008). As at 2006, this served mainly commercial and institutional properties, as well as 11 industrial clients and a hospital. The network discharges to a 20-ha lagoon-based treatment plant (in the Kossodo industrial area), reportedly operational as at 2008. Thus this sewerage system does not currently serve low-income districts or households; the AFD evaluation (AFD 2008) mentions plans to offer partial (30%) subsidy of household connection, but this is unlikely to be sufficient subsidy for poor households, and in any case the sewerage system serves only the centre of the city. The ONEA website currently states that connection to the network is currently obligatory in sewered districts, implying a responsibility to subsidize the connection of poorer households.
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
Ouédraogo (2006) provides detailed information on the pit-emptying sector in Ouagadougou: both manual pit-emptiers and tanker operators are widespread; sludge is discharged both informally and at the Kossodo treatment plant. Ouédraogo (2006) reports that sludge treatment capacity at Kossodo is 30 m3/day, versus an estimated city-wide production of 600 m3/day. There is currently no clear legal/planning framework governing pit emptying, but the relevant institutions appear to be taking this issue seriously, with support from donors including AFD (see Ouédraogo 2006).
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
As noted, both sewerage wastewater and tankered sludge are treated at the Kossodo treatment plant. The plant comprises 3 parallel anaerobic ponds, 2 parallel facultative ponds, and 3 maturation ponds in series; treatment capacity is about 180,000 m3 (Spulher et al. 2007). Ouédraogo (2006) reports that the plant also has sludge treatment facilities, but we have no detailed information on this.
Sanitation in low-income districts
We are not aware of any detailed mapping of high-sanitation-need districts, or of any specific policy for sanitation improvement in informal settlements.
Responsibility
The national water and sanitation utility ONEA (Office national de l'eau et de l'assainissement) is responsible for water supply, stormwater drainage and sanitation: responsibility is assumed for both sewerage and onsite sanitation. There is a specific policy of support (technical support, provision of latrine slabs and other materials) for householders who wish to improve their toilets.
Sanitation masterplan?
Yes: WSP (2002).
Sanitation financing
No specific information at present.
Major investments and donor interventions
Sewerage project for central part of city “Public sanitatation in Ougadougou (Burkina Faso), funding from Agence Francaise de Developpement; http://www.csdwand.net/data/sheet.asp?cn=France&fn=FRANCE_14; for ex-post evaluation see AFD (2008).
SEE: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/en/projects-activities/approved-projects/
Sources and further reading
References
AFD [Agence Francaise de Développment] (2008) Evaluation ex-post du projet d’assainissement collectif de la ville de Ouagadougou. Série Évaluation et capitalisation, No. 16. http://www.pseau.org/outils/biblio/resume.php?docu_document_id=1492
BBC News (5 September 2009) “UN warns on West Africa floods” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8239552.stm
CIEH [Comite Inter Africain d’Etudes Hydrauliques] (1993). Etude comparative des systèmes d’épuration collectifs dans le contexte africain. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Not currently available online.
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
OCHA (2009) “Overview of flood-affected sectors in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 9 Sept 2009” http://ochaonline.un.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Fhljs9UWIas%3d&tabid=3108&language=fr-FR
Ouédraogo JA (2006) Cas de la ville de Ouagadougou au Burkina Faso. 1er Symposium / Atelier International sur la Politique de Gestion des Boues de Vidange, Dakar, 9-12 May 2006.
Spulher D, Kenfack S, Togola L et al. (2007) Evaluation des performances épuratoires de trois systèmes d’épuration biologique des eaux uses domestiques à Ougadougou - Burkina Faso. Unpublished report, CREPA. www.reseaucrepa.org/content/download/927/.../Com_Dorothee.pdf
UNEP (2002) Urban surficial and groundwater pollution in Africa: Burkina Faso country report.
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. http://www.unep.org/dewa/water/groundwater/africa/English/reports/CountrySummaries/BurkinaFaso/Eng-Burkina%20faso%20summary.pdf
Wang SJ, Lengeler C, Smith TA et al. (2005) Rapid urban malaria appraisal (RUMA) I: Epidemiology of urban malaria in Ouagadougou. Malaria Journal 2005, 4:43. doi:10.1186/1475-2875-4-43
World Bank (2001) “Ouagadougou Water Supply Project: Implementation Completion and Results Report”. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2001/03/09/000094946_01022805320043/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf
World Bank (2008) “Ouagadougou Water Supply Project: Implementation Completion and Results Report”. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/11/11/000333037_20081111224358/Rendered/PDF/ICR7050ICR0P0003060Box334091B01PUBLIC1.pdf
WSP (2000) Scaling Up: Lessons Learnt. The Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Strategic Sanitation Plan. Water and Sanitation Program (Africa Region) Field Note, March 2000.
WSP (2002) Plan stratégique d’assainissement de Ouagadougou: une approche holistique aux problèmes d’une ville. http://www.reseaucrepa.org/page/714Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de
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