TITLE:
Contribution to Improving the Management of Sewage Sludge in the Western Region: Case of Bafoussam 1st
AUTHORS:
Félicite Obono Mba, Ngongang Sanou
KEYWORDS:
Sewage Sludge, Management, Treatment, Sanitation, Bafoussam 1st
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.3,
March
21,
2022
ABSTRACT: Sanitation is a particularly sensitive issue in the
world, especially in Africa where local communities are plagued by the problem
of managing sludge which is causing a lot of damage in Africa and mainly in Cameroon. This
study aims to contribute to improving the management of sewage sludge in the
municipality of Bafoussam 1st. For this study, the methodology used is field survey. The questionnaire
was submitted to 120 households in the commune of Bafoussam 1st, in
particular, we take into account knowledge of the health and environmental
risks that can result from improper handling of sludge and its treatment. The
results show that the most widespread sanitation system is traditional
latrines. Similarly, 79.19% of those surveyed dump, the sludge collected at the
landfill against only 14.28% who dump it in fields and 6.53% have no idea about
the fate of the sludge from their sanitary facilities. It should also be noted
that 55.83% of the people surveyed are not aware of the health and
environmental risks of untreated sewage sludge and therefore do not take the
precautions to avoid it. Subsequently, 93.75% of respondents say that the
current landfill would be a nuisance and the main nuisances identified are
water pollution and subsequent fish poisoning. Physico-chemical analyzes of the sludge revealed values much higher
than the values provided for by the WHO standards. Thus, total nitrogen and
phosphate ions represented respectively 97 mg/L and 47 mg/L against 35
and 30.4 mg/L for the standard; COD and BOD5 represented
respectively 3250 mg/L and 1100 mg/L against 150 and 40 mg/L provided by the
WHO standards. It follows the temperature and the MES which gave values of 32.7°C
and 1750 mg/L, values much higher than the standard (30°C and 50 mg/L).