Browsing by Author "Obeng, Peter Appiah"

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    Assessment of institutional arrangements for solid waste management in Kumasi
    (2005-11-01) Obeng, Peter Appiah
    In Ghana, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) reported in 1999 that only 40% of the nation’s urban residents were served by a solid waste collection service and less than 30% by an acceptable household toilet facility. In response to this deplorable state of environmental sanitation, the Environmental Sanitation Policy (ESP) was prepared in the same year to define a systematic approach and institutional framework within which to tackle the nation’s sanitation problem. Five years after the adoption of the ESP, there is the need to verify whether the recommended institutional change has been implemented and whether it has made any impact on service efficiency. Thus the main question sought to be answered by this research relates to what changes have taken place in the institutional arrangements for SWM in Kumasi as a result of the adoption of the ESF and how institutional change has affected service efficiency. After interaction with the various institutions involved in SWM in Kumasi through the use of questionnaires and interviews, it was found out that the implementation of the Policy has led to improvement in service coverage and cost recovery. Service coverage has increased from about 50% to an annual average of 87.4 % since the inception of the Policy. Also, between 2001 and 2003, the amount recovered by private operators through house-to-house collection services increased from 26.5% to 46.3% of the WMD’s total expenditure. In 2004, cost recovery stood at 68.7% of the projected expenditure of the department. While acknowledging the impact of the Policy on service efficiency, it is recommended that further institutional reforms are made to limit the influence of politicians on the activities of the Waste Management Department (WMD) and private operators, in order to sustain and improve upon the gains made so far. Besides, there is the need to intensify public health education and sanitation service promotion to whip up community support for private sector participation, which is the key to cost recovery and improved service coverage.
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    Usage barriers and improvement of the ventilated improved pit latrine for use in peri-urban settings of Ghana
    (March 2016) Obeng, Peter Appiah
    The overall aim of this research was to improve the ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine to make it more suitable for use in peri-urban settings in Ghana. The specific objectives were to assess the barriers associated with the use of existing latrines, identify the factors which influence the level of odour in latrines and to evaluate improvements in modified designs of the VIP latrine. The research was conducted in Prampram, Ghana, using focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys and field measurements in an experimental and existing latrines. A linear regression model was used to assess the relative effect of the various design modifications and the elements of weather on the ventilation rate in the experimental VIP latrine . It was found that private latrines shared by multiple households were as highly patronised by the intended users as those used by single households but communal latrines were avoided by most expected users (75%) in favour of open defecation. The main technical barrier to use of existing facilities was intense odour (23%) while long walking distances (28%) and the charging of a user fee (21%) were the major nontechnical barriers. The concentrations of hydrogen sulphide and ammonia in latrine cubicles, used as potential surrogates of odour, generally reflected the level of odour as perceived by the latrine users but hydrogen sulphide was found to be a more reliable surrogate of the level of odour. On the average, a hydrogen sulphide concentration of 0.04 ppm was perceived by latrine users as being tolerable. The level of odour was significantly influenced by the type of latrine technology. For VIP latrines, the level of odour was influenced significantly by the ventilation rate through the vent pipe and the cleanliness of the latrine. With windows provided in all sides of the superstructure of the experimental VIP latr ine and insect screens installed to serve various purposes in the peri -urban setting, the 100 mm diameter vent pipe commonly used in Ghana achieved a lower ventilation rate (17.6 m 3 /h) than the recommended rate of 20 m 3 /h but a 150 mm vent pipe exceeded the recommended rate with an average of 45 m 3 /h. Generally, reduction in the ventilation rate due to the provision of windows in all sides of the superstructure (32%) and the installation of insect screens (7%) could be compensated for by increasing the vent pipe diameter by 50 mm. A regression model of the ventilation rate developed in this study could be used to predict the ventilation rate based on a set of design criteria and meteorological data