Shared but Clean Household Toilets: What Makes This Possible? Evidence from Ghana and Kenya.

Shared sanitation facilities are not considered as basic sanitation owing to cleanliness and accessibility concerns. However, there is mounting evidence that some shared household toilets have a comparable level of service as private toilets. This study examined the factors that contribute to the quality of shared household toilets in low-income urban communities in Ghana and Kenya. The study design comprised household surveys and field inspections. Overall, 843 respondents were interviewed, and 838 household shared sanitation facilities were inspected. Cleanliness scores were computed from the facility inspections, while a total quality score was calculated based on 13 indicators comprising hygiene, privacy, and accessibility. Regression analyses were conducted to determine predictors of cleanliness and the overall quality of the shared sanitation facilities. More than four out of five (84%) shared toilets in Ghana (N = 404) were clean, while in Kenya (N = 434), nearly a third (32%) were clean. Flush/pour-flush toilets were six times (p < 0.01 aOR = 5.64) more likely to be clean. A functional outside door lock on a toilet facility and the presence of live-in landlords led to a threefold increase (p < 0.01 aOR = 2.71) and a twofold increase (p < 0.01 aOR = 1.92), respectively in the odds of shared sanitation cleanliness. Sanitation facilities shared by at most five households (95% CI: 6−7) were generally clean. High-quality shared toilets had live-in landlords, functional door locks, and were water-dependent. Further studies on innovative approaches to maintaining the quality of these high-quality shared toilets are needed to make them eligible for classification as basic sanitation considering the increasing reliance on the facilities.

How Much Will Safe Sanitation for all Cost? Evidence from Five Cities.

Global sustainable development goals call for universal access to safely managed sanitation by 2030. Here, we demonstrate methods to estimate the financial requirements for meeting this commitment in urban settings of low-income countries. Our methods considered two financial requirements: (i) the subsidies needed to bridge the gap between the willingness-to-pay of low-income households and actual market prices of toilets and emptying services and (ii) the amounts needed to expand the municipal waste management infrastructure for unserved populations. We applied our methods in five cities- Kisumu, Malindi, Nakuru in Kenya; Kumasi in Ghana; and Rangpur in Bangladesh and compared three to five sanitation approaches in each city. We collected detailed cost data on the sanitation infrastructure, products, and services from 76 key informants across the five cities, and we surveyed a total of 2381 low-income households to estimate willingness-to-pay. We found that the total financial requirements for achieving universal sanitation in the next 10 years and their breakdown between household subsidies and municipal infrastructure varied greatly between sanitation approaches. Across our study cities, sewerage was the costliest approach (total financial requirements of 16-24 USD/person/year), followed by container-based sanitation (10-17 USD/person/year), onsite sanitation (2-14 USD/person/year), and mini-sewers connecting several toilets to communal septic tanks (3-5 USD/person/year). Further applications of our methods can guide sanitation planning in other cities.

Clean vehicles, polluted waters: empirical estimates of water consumption and pollution loads of the carwash industry.

Carwash stations use large volumes of water and release harmful chemicals into the environment through their operations. While a significant body of literature has focused on exploring water use in the carwash industry, none has provided comprehensive information on both the pollution loads of the wastewater emanating from this industry and water consumption. Understanding how much water is used and the pollution loads of wastewater from this industry is useful to ensure adoption of water conservation measures and design wastewater recycling systems given the dwindling freshwater resources globally. This study estimated the freshwater quantities used to wash different vehicle types and the pollution loads of the resulting wastewater in the Kumasi Metropolis. Seven proxy carwash stations were purposively selected and monitored to estimate the water used to wash six different categories of vehicles. Composite wastewater samples from three carwash stations were analysed for concentrations of different contaminants which were used to compute pollution loads. Using R software, one-way ANOVA with Tukey's (HSD) post-hoc testing and 2-sample t-test at 95% confidence interval were employed to test statistical differences. After an 8-week monitoring campaign involving 3,667 vehicles, the study showed that average water used for each vehicle type were in the order: Motorbike - 97L (95% CI: 90-103L); Salon car - 158L (95% CI: 154-161L); SUV - 197L (95% CI:191-203L); Buses/Coaches - 370L (95%CI:351-381L); Articulated truck 1,139L (95% CI:916-1,363L); Graders/Loaders - 1405L (95% CI:327-2,483L). Overall, the carwash industry in the Metropolis uses about 1000m3 of freshwater daily and discharges the resulting wastewater into waterways untreated. The wastewater has a low Biodegradability Index (0.3-0.4) and is characterized by a mildly alkali pH (7.6-8.6) with high levels of Sulphates (40.8-69.8 mg/L), COD (990-1413 mg/L), TSS (1260-3417 mg/L) and E. coli (2.3-4.7 × 103 CFU/100mL). Pollution loads of BOD and COD were up to 2tons/year and 6tons/year respectively. Stipulated effluent discharge guideline values were mostly exceeded - in some cases by up to 68 times. To avert the unbridled wastage of freshwater, the study recommends enforcement of wastewater recycling for all carwash stations and promulgation of a tax system that rewards stations that recycle wastewater and surchages those wasting freshwater.

Treating waste with waste: the potential of synthesized alum from bauxite waste for treating car wash wastewater for reuse.

This study assessed the contaminant removal potential of a low-cost alum synthesized from bauxite slime waste compared to industrial grade alum [Al2(SO4)3.18H2O] in treating car wash wastewater using standard jar tests. The synthesized alum was subsequently applied as a coagulant to test the short-term performance of a bench scale flocculation-flotation system for treating car wash wastewater. Coagulant dosages and mixing intensities were optimized for both coagulants and differences were analyzed with R using two-way ANOVA with Tukey's (HSD) post hoc testing. Per the jar tests, percentage removal of up to 99%, 34%, and 75% of turbidity, anionic surfactants (AS), and COD, respectively, was achieved with 90 mg/L of the synthesized alum compared to 100%, 37%, and 74% for industrial grade alum. Contaminant removal efficiencies of both coagulants were comparable (p > 0.05). However, coagulant dosage strongly influenced the removal of turbidity, AS, and COD (p < 0.05) while mixing intensity influenced all but COD. The bench-scale flocculation-flotation system completely removed turbidity (100%) and reduced AS and COD by up to 92% and 99% respectively. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of alum synthesized from bauxite slime waste as a cheaper alternative for industrial grade alum in wastewater recycling for the car wash industry.

Prevalence of Helminths in Dogs and Owners' Awareness of Zoonotic Diseases in Mampong, Ashanti, Ghana.

Dogs are popular pets that live closely with humans. However, this cohabitation allows for the transmission of zoonotic parasites to humans. In Ghana, very little is known about zoonotic parasites in dogs. We examined excrements of 154 dogs for intestinal helminthes using saturated sodium chloride as a floatation medium and further interviewed 100 dog owners regarding knowledge on zoonosis and pet management practices. Thirteen parasite species were identified, with an overall prevalence of 52.6%. Nematodes were more common than cestodes, with Toxocara canis being the most prevalent helminth (18.8%). Age (p = 0.011; χ (2) = 9.034) and location (p = 0.02; χ (2) = 12.323) of dogs were significant risk factors of helminthic infections, while mode of housing, function, and gender of dogs were not. Knowledge on zoonosis and pet management practices were poor, including irregular deworming and feeding of animals off the bare ground. Dogs may play an active role in the transmission of zoonotic diseases in the area, given the cohabitation of infected dogs with humans; irregular deworming pattern of dogs; and rampant excretion of helminth-infested dog excreta into the environment.

Hygienic Practices among Food Vendors in Educational Institutions in Ghana: The Case of Konongo.

With the booming street food industry in the developing world there is an urgent need to ensure food vendors adhere to hygienic practices to protect public health. This study assessed the adherence to food hygiene practices by food vendors in educational institutions in Konongo, Ghana. Structured questionnaires, extensive observation and interviews were used for the study involving 60 food vendors from 20 basic schools. Attributable to the influence of school authorities and the level of in-training of food vendors, the study points out that food vendors in educational institutions generally adhered to good food hygiene practices, namely, regular medical examination (93%), protection of food from flies and dust (55%); proper serving of food (100%); good hand hygiene (63%); and the use of personal protective clothing (52%). The training of food vendors on food hygiene, instead of the level of education had a significant association (p < 0.05) with crucial food hygiene practices such as medical examination, hand hygiene and protection of food from flies and dust. Further, regulatory bodies legally mandated to efficiently monitor the activities of food vendors lacked the adequate capacity to do so. The study proposes that efforts should be geared towards developing training programmes for food vendors as well as capacity building of the stakeholders.