Industrial and municipal effluent loadings into the Lake Victoria catchment, Kenya.
Item Type Book Section
Authors Abira, M.A.; Oleko, C.; Okungu, J.O.; Abuodha, J.O.Z.; Hecky, R.E.
Publisher Lake Victoria Environment Management Project (LVEMP)
Download date 01/10/2021 19:48:48
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/7151 CHAPTER 6
Industrial and municipal effluent loadings into the Lake Victoria catchment, Kenya
Margaret A. Abira1*, Charles Oleko2 Okungu J. O3, Abuodha, J.O.Z 4 Hecky R. E5
1, 2, 3, Ministry of Water and Irrigation , Box 1922 Kisumu, Kenya. 4 School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Maseno University, Box 333 Maseno, Kenya. 5 Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue,West waterloo Ontario N2L3G1 Canada.
1,2Ministry of Water and Irrigation, [email protected], [email protected] P.O. Box 1922, Kisumu, Kenya
INTRODUCTION
The population in the entire Lake Victoria basin is estimated to be 30 million in 1995 continues to increase. This has triggered increased urbanization and invariably increased demand for water, various resources and services including manufactured goods. Increased demand for processing water, has concomitantly led to increase in effluents discharged directly into the lake or into rivers and their tributaries which in turn discharge into the lake.
The environmental and socio-economic consequences of the above scenario abound. One of the consequences is polluted water resources that are costly to treat for domestic purposes and industrial use. For instance, chlorine used for disinfection of drinking water combines with organic matter to form chloramines, reducing the chlorine available to effectively kill disease-causing organisms such as viruses, and bacteria. This may pose the risk to consumers of contracting water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and shigellosis. Alleviating this problem would require an increase in the quantity of the disinfectant (chlorine) with concomitant increase in the cost of water treatment. Similar problems are encountered in other consumptive water uses such as beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
Effluent discharges deplete oxygen in the Lake due to the presence of oxygen consuming organic and inorganic substances. Low oxygen may result into fish kills (Hecky et al., 1994) or interference with the reproductive function of fish and other aquatic organisms or migration of oxygen dependent species. Consequently, availability of fish and fish products to consumers is reduced.
Water Quality and Ecosystems Component
Lake Victoria Environment Management Project
Enrichment of the lake water results in the proliferation of algal blooms and noxious weeds such as the water hyacinth. The blooms and weeds are a manifestation of eutrophication. These clog water supply intakes and pumps and impart undesirable taste and odour to water for domestic and industrial use. This also results in increased cost of water treatment and consumer complaints. Impact of untreated waste on water quality is also manifested through aesthetic effects, leading to loss of scenic beauty with water becoming unsuitable for recreation and water rights conflicts due to shortage of water of suitable quality for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes.
Study objectives
Implementation of the subcomponent on Management of Industrial and Municipal Effluents (MIME) under the LVEMP project was aimed at addressing various deficiencies, which contribute to the overall problem of deterioration of the Lake water quality. The main tasks were to identify and catalogue industries and municipalities that produce organic and inorganic pollutants including nutrients; to collect pertinent information relating to each industry such as industry location, process water requirements and inputs, outputs, by-products (effluents and solid wastes), and their environmental impacts and to sensitize stakeholders to take a lead role in promoting cleaner technology.
Past policy and management deficiencies especially in the legal and institutional framework have largely been addressed or are being addressed. The enactment of the Environment Management and Coordination Act 2000, the Water (Amendment) Act 2002, and the formation of the National Environment Management Authority and the Water Resources Management Authority is seen as a major step in the right direction towards addressing, inter alia, the problem of water resources and environmental quality degradation.
The specific objectives were: (1) to establish geographical location, activities and particulars of each municipality and factory/industry in the Kenyan Lake Victoria catchment; (2) to classify the factories on the basis of those with and those without effluent treatment facilities and the watercourse into which they discharge (3) to assess the degree and/or efficiency of treatment of the effluent before discharge (4) to assess the contribution of urban runoff to Lake pollution; and (5) to assess the efficacy of a pilot scale constructed wetland in purifying wastewater at a tertiary level.
Water Quality and Ecosystems Component
Lake Victoria Environment Management Project
Industrial and municipal
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