Wastewater management presents gaps in the municipality of Bujumbura. Very few neighborhoods are connected to the Buterere wastewater treatment plant. The worst is that this network is in a state of disrepair. This causes wastewater to leave the manholes and flow into Lake Tanganyika. In other neighborhoods, wastewater is managed through septic tanks. This poses a danger to the water table and our fresh water reservoir, Lake Tanganyika.
Wastewater management presents gaps in the municipality of Bujumbura. Very few neighborhoods are connected to the Buterer wastewater treatment plante
In a visit carried out by a Burundi Eco reporter on Tuesday March 2, 2024 in certain neighborhoods of the municipality of Bujumbura, it emerged that the management of liquid waste remains problematic.
In certain neighborhoods in areas of the municipality of Bujumbura such as Ngagara, Buyenzi, Bwiza and Nyakabiga, wastewater leaves certain sewers and flows like running water in the gutters located in these places to finally flow into Lake Tanganyika .
In principle, this wastewater should flow into the Buterere sewage treatment plant to undergo some treatment before flowing into Lake Tanganyika to protect it from pollution.
The situation is the same for the management of wastewater produced through laundry and dishwashing. The owners of the plots have installed pipes which discharge this water into the gutters and their final destination always remains Lake Tanganyika.
The population is worried
The population contacted is worried about this situation, because wastewater pollutes water resources. She indicates that for the connected neighborhoods, the network is obsolete. This means that we can observe wastewater flowing into the gutters in different districts of the economic capital.
The worst thing is that some households do not have toilets and throw waste into the gutters. This worsens the pollution of water resources.
All this wastewater should be channeled to the Buterere sewage treatment plant for treatment before flowing into Lake Tanganyika.
However, the Buterere treatment plant, which should receive 40,000 m3 of wastewater per day, only receives 15,000 m3, said Théophile Ndikumana, environmentalist and professor at the University of Burundi.
Very few neighborhoods connected to the Buterere wastewater treatment plant
Currently, only households in Mukaza commune and those in the Ngagara zone in Ntahangwa commune are connected to this network. The Buterere wastewater treatment plant, which treats liquid waste from kitchens, showers and toilets, is connected to the Ngagara, Industriel, Buyenzi, Bwiza, Nyakabiga and Mutanga south districts. All other neighborhoods are not connected to this network.
Be careful when using septic tanks
Professor Ndikumana indicates that a large quantity of wastewater is evacuated through septic tanks and soakaway wells. According to him, this strategy constitutes a great danger, because the water table is affected and this constitutes a cause of pollution for the waters of Lake Tanganyika and its tributaries.
He explains that since the 1970s until today, Lake Tanganyika has lost much of its water quality due to invasive urban habitat using soakaways. He estimates that by 2030, Lake Tanganyika will be very polluted.
Regideso has already moved its collection point which was previously at 1800 meters following pollution. Currently, it is located 3500 meters from the coastline of Lake Tanganyika.
Note that with the LATAWAMA project, the population hopes that there will be a slight improvement in the fight against pollution of the waters of Lake Tanganyika. It aims to optimize the operation of the Buterere wastewater treatment plant in Bujumbura and its collection network. The project rehabilitated the drying beds and will ensure the implementation of the sludge pumping system at the Buterere wastewater treatment plant. The project also digitized the wastewater collection network. The OBUHA laboratory has also been rehabilitated and is equipped to monitor the purification performance of the station. As part of the development of the monitoring network, the project rehabilitated the OBPE laboratory and delivered the analytical equipment in June 2022.
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