Greywater in the drains of a sewered community in Ghana

With less than 5% sewerage coverage and abysmal greywater management, Ghana's environment could be highly polluted, especially water resources. The few sewered communities may be guilty of pollution from greywater discharge into stormwater drains. In this study, Asafo, Ghana, was used as a case...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water practice and technology 2018-12, Vol.13 (4), p.965-979
Main Authors: Dwumfour-Asare, Bismark, Nyarko, Kwabena B., Essandoh, Helen M. K., Awuah, Esi, Anim, Kofi K. A., Quaye, Archibald
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonia
Biological treatment
Case studies
Chemical oxygen demand
Coliforms
Communities
Community involvement
Contaminants
Developing countries
Discharge
Drains
E coli
Environmental health
Faecal coliforms
Fecal coliforms
Greywater
Groundwater
Laboratories
LDCs
Mineral nutrients
Nitrogen dioxide
Nutrients
Odor
Odour
Ratios
Resource management
Sanitation
Science
Sewage
Sewer systems
Sewerage
Sewers
Stormwater
Turbidity
Water pollution
Water resources
Water treatment
Wetlands
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Summary:With less than 5% sewerage coverage and abysmal greywater management, Ghana's environment could be highly polluted, especially water resources. The few sewered communities may be guilty of pollution from greywater discharge into stormwater drains. In this study, Asafo, Ghana, was used as a case study to assess greywater characteristics in the major drains in a sewered community. The approach involved desk study reviews and laboratory analysis of greywater samples. The findings showed some inhabitants discharge greywater into neighbourhood drains instead of sewers. Most greywater sources from reviews and sampled drains failed the discharge limits for major contaminants including turbidity (39.4–2,880 NTU), BOD5 (64–700 mg/L), COD (207–2,308 mg/L), TSS (70–4,720 mg/L), TDS (420–2,860 mg/L), nutrients – TKN, NH3-N, NO3−-N, NO2−-N (0–218.5 mg/L), total P and PO43−(1.24–26.18 mg/L), elemental species – Na, K, Mg, etc (0–1.6 mg/L), and microbiological – total and faecal coliforms, and E. coli (2.95–10.4 log CFU/100 ml). High strength greywater accounted for odour emissions where flows stagnated. Greywater characteristics are highly variable but have potential for biological treatment as the BOD5:COD ratios ≥0.5. Ghanaian greywater, including flows from a sewered community, is untreated and polluted, and our environment is unsafe.
ISSN:1751-231X
1751-231X
DOI:10.2166/wpt.2018.103