Assessment of wash program in public secondary schools in south-western Nigeria

The provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene in schools has been established to improve health, boost educational achievement, and promote gender equity which has a positive impact on the society. The aim of this pilot study is to ascertain the state of WASH program in public secondary schools in South-Western Nigeria. A total of twelve schools which span across three Local Government areas in two States (Lagos and Ogun), in South-Western Nigeria were selected. The standard for WASH in schools by UNICEF was used as the guiding principles to evaluate the adequacy of the various WASH components. Out of the 12 public secondary schools visited, only 3 (25%) had drinking water points (boreholes) and 40% of the schools do not have separate latrines for boys and girls, and for promoting privacy of older girls. Only 1 (10%) of the schools had hand washing points but without soap and there is no plan in the schools for advancing WASH program. This study reveals that the present WASH practice in many of the schools is not adequate

Evaluation of the Influence of Reactor Design on the Treatment Performance of an Optimized Pilot-Scale Waste Stabilization Pond

Waste stabilization pond (WSP) is globally one of the most popular wastewater treatment options due to its high efficiency and low cost. A field scale prototype was designed and scaled down to a pilot-scale model using dimensional analysis in the development of the foot print size. Pilot-scale reactors were built with the specifications produced from literature suggested reactor geometric configurations and experimental study was conducted to evaluate the performance of optimized pilot-scale WSP configurations. The optimized pilot scale WSPs consisted of an anaerobic, facultative, and a maturation stage with varying baffle orientation, length to width ratio, and depth. Comparisons were made on the optimized pilot-scale WSP reactors. The removal performance of the experimental test was based on a number of parameters (Faecal coliform, pH, TDS, and Conductivity). Results showed that the significantly lower cost design displayed slightly better removal performance compared to other WSP design developed from literature data. This paper covers a relevant subject within the field of waste stabilization ponds, namely the representation of the influence of reactor design on the treatment performance of WSP

Environment, Health and Wealth: Towards an Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

The management of municipal solid waste is one of the challenges facing the developing countries because governments, institutions, and private sectors have given solid waste management low priority and ignoring the implication it has on the general public. This is characterized by inefficient collection methods, insufficient coverage of the collection system and improper disposal. This paper presents the current solid waste management method adopted in Ado-Odo Ota local government and its associated challenges. Four locations (Iganmode area, Joju area, Ota market and toll gate area) were selected. These sites are points where the waste bins are located. A field work that involves the characterization and types of the waste generated, and frequency of collection from each site was carried out. A representative sample of 280 kg was used for the waste characterization and the result shows that about 64% of the wastes are recyclable with lots of organic waste that comprises of food and agricultural waste which can be used as compost. The only dump site in Ota was visited in order to obtain useful information concerning the present state of solid waste management. The study revealed that there is presently no investment made to the existing development plan to introduce a modern waste management system. The study suggests new approach that could be used by institutions and government agencies for municipal solid waste management to achieve sustainable and effective sanitation

Rainfall-Runoff Relationships and flow forecasting, Ogun river Nigeria

An excess or a lack of rainfall are the major causes of most hydrological hazards, and the need for a systematic approach to river flow forecasting based on rainfall is imperative, especially in Nigeria. A study was carried out on three major gauging stations of the Ogun river basin to determine the rainfall-discharge relationship and model equations for use in the basin and similar basins. Stream flow and rainfall data for at least seven consecutive years for each station were collected and analyzed. The rainfall-runoff data were subjected to linear, exponential and higher order analysis. Stream flow data were also fitted to normal, log-normal and log-Pearson Type III distributions. The selection of the appropriate probability distribution model for each gauging station was based on graphical comparisons between observed and predicted flows and goodness-of-fit tests using chi-square and probability correlation coefficients. Results show that model equations with logarithmic and exponential relationships between rainfall and discharge gave better and more realistic prediction estimates and can be used for the basin. It was determined that the peak discharges occurred when the rainfall values were at their maximum, and a distinct relationship between the discharge and rainfall exists at each of the gauging stations

Hydraulic Modelling and Optimization of a Wastewater Treatment System for Developing Nations Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Waste stabilization pond (WSP) is globally one of the most popular wastewater treatment options because of its high efficiency and low cost. However, no rigorous assessment of WSPs that account for cost in addition to hydrodynamics and treatment efficiency has been performed. A study was conducted that utilized Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupled with an optimization program to optimize the selection of the best WSP configuration based on cost and treatment efficiency. Several designs generated by the CFD/optimization model showed that both shorter and longer baffles, alternative depths, and reactor length to width ratios could improve the hydraulic efficiency of the ponds at a reduced overall construction cost. In addition, a study was conducted on the optimized WSP which consisted of an anaerobic, facultative, and a maturation stage whose baffle orientation, length to width ratio, was specified by a CFD model prediction and was compared with a three stage WSP designed according to literature suggested reactor geometric configurations. Experimental tests were performed on a pilot scale version of the threestage WSP where the removal performance was based on a number of parameters (Faecal coliform, pH, TDS, and Conductivity). Results showed that the significantly lower cost design based on the optimized CFD simulations displayed slightly better removal performance compared to the standard WSP design developed from literature data. The results of this study clearly showed that unit treatment process designs based on rigorous numerical optimization can aid in producing cost effective designs that make it more possible for developing nations to incorporate adequate and effective sanitation

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Road Side Soils from Selected Locations in the Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Assessing the concentration of potentially harmful heavy metals in road side soils in Lagos metropolis is imperative in order to evaluate the potential risks to people and the environment. This is due to rapid increase in the use of vehicles for day to day transportation coupled with lack of emission standards which has raised serious concern about vehicular pollution. This paper reports the results of the investigation of heavy metal concentration in road side soils of selected areas in Lagos metropolis as a result of vehicular pollution. Locations considered were motor parks, garages and roadsides in Alimosho-, Agege-, Ikeja-, and Oshodi/Isolo-LGA of Lagos State. Seven locations that spans across the four local governments were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. Three sites with low traffic concentration were also selected outside the seven locations to act as control sites. Soil samples were collected at each location for a period of three months in the dry season. The concentrations of six heavy metals (manganese, nickel, lead, chromium, zinc, and iron) in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). All the monitored heavy metal pollutants where compared with European Union (EU) regulatory standard. Results show that the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil samples from the seven locations were within safe limits though higher than in the control sites. It is evident that as time goes on, these heavy metals may pose health hazards. The study reveals that vehicular-related pollution in Lagos metropolis is indeed significant with possible severe health consequences

Assessment of Vehicular Pollution of Road Side Soils in Ota Metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria

Vehicular emission has been found to constitute one of the major sources of soil pollution. We have investigated the influence of vehicular emissions on the accumulation of heavy metal in the roadside soils of Ota metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria. The main objective of this research was to determine the impact of heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, lead, manganese, nickel and sulphate from vehicular pollution on soil around Ota. Seven locations were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. Three sites with low traffic concentration were also selected outside the seven locations to act as control sites. Samples were taken in a period of three months in the dry season. The concentrations of five heavy metals and sulphate in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer. The concentrations of the heavy metals from the seven main sites were higher than in the control sites. The concentration of each heavy metal and sulphate in the seven locations was below the European Union regulatory standard. Although these concentration are below the European Union regulatory standard, these heavy metals and sulphate, which over time are washed by erosion into the local areas used for farming, may pose health hazards. The enhancement of fuel quality and the adoption of emission standards to mitigate the impact of vehicular emissions on human health should be made mandatory

HYDRAULIC MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF WASTE STABILIZATION POND DESIGN FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS

Wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) have been identified and are used extensively to provide wastewater treatment throughout the world. It is often preferred to the conventional treatment systems due to its higher performance in terms of pathogen removal, its low maintenance and operational cost. A review of the literature revealed that there has been limited understanding on the fact that the hydraulics of waste stabilization ponds is critical to their optimization. The research in this area has been relatively limited and there is an inadequate understanding of the flow behavior that exists within these systems. This work therefore focuses on the hydraulic study of a laboratory-scale model WSP, operated under a controlled environment using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and an identified optimization tools for WSP. A field scale prototype pond was designed for wastewater treatment using a typical residential institution as a case study. This was reduced to a laboratory-scale model using dimensional analysis. The laboratory-scale model was constructed and experiments were run on them using the wastewater taken from the university wastewater treatment facility. The study utilized Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupled with an optimization program to efficiently optimize the selection of the best WSP configuration that satisfy specific minimum cost objective without jeopardizing the treatment efficiency. This was done to assess realistically the hydraulic performance and treatment efficiency of scaled WSP under the effect of varying ponds configuration, number of baffles and length to width ratio. Six different configurations including the optimized designs were tested in the laboratory to determine the effect of baffles and pond configurations on the effluent characteristics. The verification of the CFD model was based on faecal coliform inactivation and other pollutant removal that was obtained from the experimental data. The results of faecal coliform concentration at the outlets showed that the conventional 70% pond-width baffles is not always the best pond configuration as previously reported in the literature. Several other designs generated by the optimization tool shows that both shorter and longer baffles ranging between 49% and 83% for both single and multiobjective optimizations could improve the hydraulic efficiency of the ponds with different variation in depths and pond sizes. The inclusion of odd and even longitudinal baffle arrangement which has not been previously reported shows that this configuration could improve the hydraulic performance of WSP. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the model parameters to determine the influence of first order constant (k) and temperature (T) on the design configurations. The results obtained from the optimization algorithm considering all the parameters showed that changing the two parameters had effect on the effluent faecal coliform and the entire pond configurations. This work has verified its use to the extent that it can be realistically applied for the efficient assessment of alternative baffle, inlet and outlet configurations, thereby, addressing a major knowledge gap in waste stabilization pond design. The significance of CFD model results is that water and wastewater design engineers and regulators can use CFD to reasonably assess the hydraulic performance in order to reduce significantly faecal coliform concentrations and other wastewater pollutants to achieve the required level of pathogen reduction for either restricted or unrestricted crop irrigation

Integrating Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Program into Educational Institutions Policy in Nigeria.

The provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in educational institutions has been established to improve health, boost educational achievement, and promote gender equity which has a positive impact on the society. However, most public secondary schools in Nigeria are short of the basic water and sanitation facilities, and hygiene education programs are often inadequate. The aim of this study is to ascertain the state of WASH program in the educational institutions. This was assessed by investigating the causes of inadequate potable water supply, poor sanitation and deficient hygiene education in public secondary schools. A total of fifteen schools were selected for the study which span across three Cities (Lagos, Abeokuta and Ota) in two States (Lagos and Ogun), in South-Western Nigeria. The standard for WASH in schools by UNICEF was used as the guiding principles to evaluate the adequacy of the various WASH components. Out of the 12 public secondary schools visited, only 3 (25%) had drinking water points (boreholes) and 40% of the schools do not have separate latrines for boys and girls. Only 1 (10%) of the schools had hand washing points but without soap. One school reported giving hygiene talk once in a term whereas there are no facilities and program in the schools for promoting safety, privacy and security of older girls. In all the schools, open dump system of solid waste disposal that are not properly managed is the general practice. This study reveals that the present WASH facilities and practices in many of the schools are not satisfactory. Therefore, to maximize the potential of students as the most persuasive advocates of good WASH practices in the society, it is necessary to integrate WASH program into national education policy and schools should be provided with adequate facilities.