Utilization of Wastewater Management for Sustainable City Environment in Abuja, Nigeria

Wastewater contribute to many damages to the ecosystem and biodiversity, it encompasses domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural components and also faecal sludge, to prevent this sensitive damage, wastewater need to be well treated before being discharged to the environment or water bodies, otherwise it contributes to some disease outbreak like malaria and typhoid. Extreme poverty with inequality of income, housing system and poor urban planning combined with rapid increase in population mostly found in low/lower class settlement are among those factors contributing to these challenges and this study determines the health and environment impact of untreated wastewater. The comparative study was carried out in two study areas; highbrow areas that makes use of central wastewater treatment plant known as “WUPA” and low/lower income areas that practice open surface wastewater discharge, to determine how frequent both residents treats malaria/typhoid and soil pH value of the study areas also analyzed.

In-house survey questionnaire for 300 respondents of children below 12 years was employed which show that average 65% of residents in highbrow areas treated both malaria/typhoid once in 6 months, while 64% in the low/lower class areas treated 4 times in 6 months and with an average pH value of 8.18 for highbrow areas and 7.51 for low/lower class areas. This study recommends that government should connect all areas to the treatment plant, implement proper urban planning, awareness and with enforcement.