PORT HARCOURT: Sanitation Status
Sanitation provision in Port Harcourt (the capital of Rivers State on Nigeria’s southern coast) 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 Port Harcourt.
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
Port Harcourt is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 1.2 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a flat river-port city located on the Bonny River in the Niger Delta, at about 50 km from the sea. Climate is tropical monsoon (Köppen classification Am). Flooding is reported to be frequent (Dar Group 2007), though we do not have detailed information. There is extensive industrial activity, notably related to offshore oil and gas extraction, but also including a wide range of other industries including food processing. There is significant horticultural activity within the metropolitan area (Ezedinma & Chukuezi 1999). A large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements, including very poor informal settlements. Informal settlements in some parts of the city have recently suffered violent forced eviction without compensation or relocation (see below).
Water resources and supply: overview
We do not have detailed information of water resources for Port Harcourt. Both surface and groundwater resources appear to be used, and problems with aquifer quality have been reported (Abam 1999). Likewise, we do not have detailed information on water supply and distribution, though Ayotumano & Akor (1994) note that piped water supply is poor or very poor in many districts (see next section).
Sanitation access
We do not have recent city-wide data on sanitation access in Port Harcourt, in line with the comment from USAID (2009) that “Lack of accurate date makes it impossible to determine whether Nigeria is making progress to meet its MDG targets in the WSS sector”. However, sanitation access is probably poor or very poor in many districts of the city. Ayotamuno & Akor (1994) provide useful descriptions of sanitation and drainage in several central districts of the city, suggesting that widely used sanitation solutions include flush toilets discharging to open drains, pit latrines and bucket latrines; note though that this publication is from the early 1990s. Specifically: in Borokiri district, occupied mainly by civil servants and traders, piped water supply is irregular, and wastewater drains to an open drains that discharges to a recently dredged sandy site nearby; in the densely populated New Layout district, piped water supply is irregular, and sanitation facilities are flush toilets and bucket latrines, the flush toilets mostly discharging to an open drain that in turn discharged to the Marine Base River; in the very densely populated Diobu district, the inhabitants obtain water from broken pipes, boreholes and tanker vendors, and sanitation facilities are mainly bucket latrines and pit latrines; open drains are poorly maintained and filthy, and discharge to the Ahiagologo River. Ayotamuno & Akor (1994) also give information on other districts that, at least in the 1990s, had somewhat better sanitation conditions (Trans-Amadi and Rumukurusi district and D-line district) or good sanitation conditions (the Government Reserved Area).
Sewerage system
As far as we are aware, Port Harcourt has no sewerage system (except perhaps for very small systems serving institutions and private estates) (Ayotamuno & Akor 1994).
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
As far as we are aware, Port Harcourt has no formal system for septage management.
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
As far as we are aware, Port Harcourt has no major wastewater treatment facilities.
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. Indeed, the Rivers State Government is applying a violent slum clearance policy that has attracted widespread international criticism (IAI 2010): these forced evictions (affecting the riverside slum districts of Abonnema Wharf and Njemanze) are justified by the State Government as being “to sanitize and check criminal activities”, but are in fact designed to make way for private housing development, with no programme for compensation or relocation of the thousands of families affected (Amnesty International 2009). These slum clearances form part of State Government plans to construct a whole new city, “Greater Port Harcourt City”.
Responsibility
Federal and state responsibilities are summarized in USAID (2009). River State Ministry of Environment, River State Environmental Sanitation Authority
Sanitation masterplan?
As far as we know, there is no current sanitation masterplan, or broader masterplan covering sanitation.
Sanitation financing
No specific information.
Major investments and donor interventions
We are not aware of any major donor interventions in Port Harcourt.
Sources and further reading
Ayotamuno & Akor (1994), though now probably outdated, is a useful source.
References
Abam TKS (1999) Dynamics and quality of water resources in the Niger Delta. Proceedings of the IUGG 99 Symposium, Birmingham, UK, July 1999. http://iahs.info/redbooks/a259/iahs_259_0429.pdf
Amnesty International (2009) “Nigeria: Rivers State government set to demolish more homes”. Press release 2 Nov 2009. http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200911021384&lang=e
Ayotamuno MJ & Akor AJ (1994) The Pollution Potentials of Open Drains in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Environmental Management and Health 5(3): 28-32. Not currently available online.
Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de
Dar Group (2007) Port Harcourt Stormwater Drainage. http://www.dargroup.com/pdf/projects/PortHarcour.pdf
Ezedinma C & Chukuezi C (1999) A comparative analysis of urban agricultural enterprises in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Journal of Environment and Urbanization, 11(2): 135–144. http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/11/2/135.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
IAI (2010) Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Forced Evictions in Nigeria. http://www.habitants.org/news/inhabitants_of_africa/rio_de_janeiro_declaration_on_forced_evictions_in_nigeria
USAID (2009) Nigeria: Water and Sanitation Profile. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADO937.pdf
Other City Profiles
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12) DAR ES SALAAM (Tanzania) 3
14) DURBAN THEKWINI (South Africa) 3
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