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Municipal Authorities (Assemblies) in Ghana have been unable to generate adequate revenue to effectively manage sanitation. To address this challenge, the Akuapem North and Ga West Municipalities h...

This study evaluated the health impacts of WASH interventions in 9 intervention communities against 9 control communities in disaster-prone areas in northern Ghana. We extracted community-specific data on patient-reported cases of WASH-related diseases from health facilities in the study areas. Also, we used key informant interviews and household questionnaires to seek information for validation. The impact was measured using the before-after study with concurrent control (BAC) method of Health Impact Evaluation in WASH interventions. The findings indicate a substantial increase in the number of WASH facilities across the intervention communities. However, some respondents complained of access to inadequate quantities and increase downtime of water systems when there is a breakdown. Access to improved sanitation facilities was still a challenge, although a steady increase in the number of household access to latrines was observed. We extracted about 2,315 reported cases of WASH-related diseases, comprising diarrhoea (83%), dysentery (8%), typhoid fever (7%) and intestinal worms (2%). Impacts on diarrhoea prevalence were generally lower than reported figures, and varied across the intervention communities, ranging from 0 to 7% reduction. We recommend that greater attention be given to the sustainability of the intervention to ensure service delivery, rather than as a one-time investment, to achieve more significant impacts. Key words: Disaster-prone communities, WASH, sanitation, public health.

This paper presents an overview of Ghana's sanitation situation post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It specifically examines why the MDG target on sanitation was missed, Ghana's preparedness towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sanitation target, potential barriers and opportunities for the sanitation sector. An eight step policy analysis framework guided the review. The findings indicate that the low sanitation has largely been driven by rather complex economics, institutional and sociocultural factors including inadequate financial commitment, poor implementation of policies, bad attitude and perception towards sanitation and extensive use of shared and public toilets. Nevertheless, it was found that recent reforms and programmes in the sanitation sector such as the creation of new Sanitation and Water Resource Ministry, National Sanitation Authority (NSA), introduction of sanitation surcharges included in property tax, and programmes such as the Greater Accra Municipal Assembly sanitation and water project put Ghana in a better position to rapidly increase its coverage. However, efforts would have to be accelerated by forging partnerships with the private sector to provide efficient and low-cost technologies, financial schemes, human and technical resources for improved service delivery.

The aim of the study was to use of rotary drum composter as a low cost method for the removal of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris Trichiura in faecal sludge compost. Two runs of compost experiment (Run 1 and Run 2) were carried out consecutively. Each Run of composting was done in four different rotary drums at real scale using a mixture of faecal sludge and shredded maize cobs and monitored for 12 weeks. Concentration of Ascaris and Trichuris were measured once a week to understand their behaviour. Temperature, Moisture Content and pH were also measured. High concentrations of Ascaris and Trichuris were present in the initial compost mix of both Runs 1 and 2. The concentration of Ascaris and Trichuris respectively in Run 1 ranged from 65–77 eggs/gTS and 30–41 eggs/gTS. In Run 2, measured concentrations of Ascaris and Trichuris ranged from 77–110 eggs/gTS and 46–52 eggs/gTS. After 84 days of composting faecal sludge, Ascaris was removed by a minimum of 82% and Trichuris by a minimum of 88%. The findings showed that plastic composter with paddles performed better compared with the other experiments. This means that the type of composter have a significant impact on the removal of helminth.

This study was carried out to assess the degradation and accumulation rates of fresh human excreta and how addition of anal cleansing materials affect performance during vermicomposting by Eisenia fetida and Eudrilus eugeniae. Vermicomposting setups consisting of two transparent containers (length 0.27 m, breadth 0.17 m and depth 0.12 m) stacked on top of each other were installed and operated under laboratory conditions. Earthworms, Eisenia fetida and Eudrilus eugeniae, were obtained from Green Cycle Technologies Limited in Accra, Ghana and the species verified and cultured before use. Fresh human excreta for feeding the experimental setups was collected from an Enviro-loo public toilet and 13 g applied to the setups daily. Similar setups were fed with 0.3 g of anal cleansing material in addition to the fresh excreta. A setup without any earthworms (NW) was set up as a control. Physicochemical characteristics of vermicompost accumulating in the setups were determined weekly for 28 days using standard laboratory procedures while the sludge accumulated in the various setups were weighed and recorded daily. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post-hoc LSD tests were conducted to determine whether the differences in results between the two earthworm species and among setups with and without anal cleansing materials were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). The study showed 12.3% and 26.2% reduction in volatile solids in EE (Eudrilus eugeniae and excreta only) and EF (Eisenia fetida and excreta only) while ash content increased indicating good degradation. The percentage mass reductions recorded at the end of the fourth week were 67.5%, 58.8% and 40.5% in systems EE, EF and NW respectively, while reductions of 73.7% and 68.5% were realized in EEA (Eudrilus eugeniae with excreta and toilet paper) and EFA (Eisenia fetida with excreta and toilet paper) respectively. There was greater amount of sludge accumulated in systems without earthworms, 0.00020 m3 (59.5%) in NW, than in systems with earthworms where 0.00011 m3 (32.5%) and 0.00014 m3 (41.2%) were recorded for EE and EF respectively. The rate of accumulation in vermibeds EE and EF was relatively higher than in vermibeds with excreta and toilet paper (EEA and EFA). EEA and EFA recorded accumulation rates of 0.00009 m3 (26.3%) and 0.00011 m3 (31.5%) respectively. Complete removal of helminth eggs was not achieved in any of the treatment systems.

Greywater management in Ghana receives little or no attention although untreated greywater is associated with environmental and public health risks. This paper assesses greywater characteristics and handling practices among urban households in three selected communities in Kumasi, the second largest city of Ghana. The study involved in-depth surveys (interviews and observations) with 90 households, and collection of 18 greywater samples from nine greywater sources for laboratory analysis. Average greywater generation is 43.36 ± 17 litres per capita per day, equivalent to 36% of average water consumption. Greywater is untreated before disposal (≈99%), and disposal is mainly (89%) into drains and onto streets. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels are high but give very low BOD/COD ratios (0.20 ± 0.07) indicating a very low biodegradability potential. Nutrient levels are high: 12 times (P) and 30 times (N) in excess of standard discharge limits. Other contaminants detected are heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn and Cd), microbes (total coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp.), and organic micropollutants – benzalkonium chloride, parabens (methyl and propyl), sodium benzoate and hypochlorite – and details of the levels are discussed in the paper. Greywater reuse could be useful for biomass production, but it also presents a challenge and threat to natural biological processes and water sources.

This study determined the contamination levels of oil and grease (O/G) across nine (9) galamsey operations under different environmental media (background soil, surface drainage, slurry/sludge and galamsey wastes) in three galamsey hotspot assemblies (Tarkwa Nsuaem, Amenfi East and Prestea Huni Valley) within the Western region of Ghana. Triplicate samples each of the four environmental media for the nine galamsey types (Washing Board, Washing Plant, Anwona, Dig and Wash, Dredging, Underground Abandoned Shaft, Underground Sample Pit, Chamfi and Mill House) were collected and analysed using n-hexane extractable materials in acidic medium by extraction and gravimetry to determine O/G concentrations. From the comparison of mean ranked concentration of O/G, using Kruskal-Wallis Test, the observed differences in the ranking was significant across all four media. The O/G concentrations for Anwona, Chamfi, Mill House, Washing Board and Washing Plant galamsey recorded exceedances when compared to the Ghana EPA Effluent Guideline Value of 100 mg/L for water and The New Dutch Lists’ Target and Intervention Value of 50 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg for solid/semi-solid materials. Consistently and for all environmental media types, the levels of O/G across the galamsey types were in the descending order of: Washing Board, Chamfi, Anwona, Mill House, Washing Plant, Underground Sample Pit, River Dredging, Dig and Wash, Underground Abandoned Shaft and Control Sample (non-galamseyed areas). In general, the surface drainage medium was predominantly found to be the most impacted upon medium from hydrocarbons by seven of the nine galamsey operations (Washing Board, Anwona, Chamfi, Mill House, Dredging, Dig and Wash and Underground Sample Pit). This was followed by slurry/sludge, background soil and waste media in that order. Expectedly, there were no exceedances for the Reference or Control Samples (non-galamseyed areas).

Composting of raw faecal sludge (FS) poses many difficulties due to its high moisture content (MC), high wet bulk density and low carbon to nitrogen ratio. The aim of this study were to (1) examine the suitability of bulking materials (BMs) and (2) investigate the effect of bulking material and mixing ratio on concentration of nutrients during composting of raw FS compost. Raw FS and BMs (wood chips and maize cobs) were sampled from three peri-urban communities. The raw FS showed an initial high MC (73%) which was greater than that required to start a compost process (55–65%). The results showed that the total carbon and nitrogen contents of all the experiments decreased at the end of the composting process. Composted materials at the end of the experiment showed lower concentrations of available phosphorus and potassium in all the experiments than the initial substrate materials. Experimental trial, Maize cob (1:2) is the most preferred due to the fact that it contained more nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and also carbon which are essential nutrients for plant growth and for improving on the soil organic matter content.

Recently, there have been efforts by stakeholders to monitor illegal mining (galamsey) activities, foster their formalization and reclaim the many abandoned wastelands in Ghana. However, limited information exists on the locations, abundance, scope and scale of galamsey types, which hinders the development of effective policy response. This study attempts to map and analyze the distribution patterns, abundance, activity statuses and the extents of nine (9) galamsey types within eleven (11) Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) of Ghana's Western Region. It explores the utility of field-based survey, using the Open Data Kit (ODK) system, ArcGIS and Google Earth Imagery to map and visualize different galamsey types under a hostile working environment. A total of 911 galamsey sightings, of which 547 were found in clusters (corresponding to approximately 7106 individual operational units) and 364 in stand-alone mode. Overall, a total of 7470 individual galamsey operations were encountered in 312 different communities (towns and villages). Operationally, the Alluvial Washing Board, Mill-House and Chamfi were found to be the three most popular and practiced galamsey types. The three main galamsey hotspot districts (out of the 11) are the Tarkwa Nsuaem (294 sightings and 3648 individual galamsey sites), Amenfi East (223 sightings and 1397 individual galamsey sites) and Prestea Huni-Valley Districts (156 sightings and 1130 individual galamsey sites). In terms of their activity statuses, 199 abandoned operations (entailing 1855 individual operations), 664 active (entailing 5055 individuals operations) and 48 semi-active (comprising 560 individuals within clusters) galamsey operations were sighted at the time of the study. While galamsey is generally acknowledged to be widespread in Ghana, the results suggest a scale that probably surpasses any previous estimate or expectation. The findings will adequately inform the prioritization of reclamation efforts.