Sewage Handling in Mwanza City: The Everyday Struggle to Survive 

Sewage Handling in Mwanza City: The Everyday Struggle to Survive 

By Said Sindo

“I started this work in 1988. One day I slipped and fell into the pit where we were digging faecal sludge. You cannot do this job while sober. You have to be really drunk,” says a smiling Chacha Nyechi, who works as a toilet emptier in Mwanza City.

Nyachi, 51 years old, is the father of five and a grandfather to four children. He started doing this work when he was 14 years old. He explains that through this work, he raised dowry to marry his wife, and even educated his children.

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Nyechi removing logs from an old toilet pit latrine to start the emptying work. This is done after digging an improved pit next to the old one for faecal disposal.

Mabatini is a Ward in Nyamagana District, Mwanza City, in Tanzania. The 2022 population census indicates that this ward is home to 24, 458 people. The majority of the people in this area live in poor conditions and earn a living from doing different informal activities in the city. 

Located on the southern shores of Lake Victoria, some 72% of people in Mwanza are supplied with water and 23% are using sewerage services from MWAUWASA, the Mwanza Urban Water and Sewerage Authority. 

The city is characterized by gently undulating terrain with isolated hill masses and rock inselbergs. It is also characterized by well-drained sandy loamy soil generated from coarse-grained cretaceous rock. 

Many people in Mwanza live in unplanned settlements. These settlements, apart from lacking basic facilities like roads, schools and water, are located on steep rocky hills where providing basic sanitation is difficult. In recent times housing in Mwanza City has extended further and further up the hills in an uncontrolled manner. This has created numerous problems such as improper wastewater disposal. In such areas, conventional sewer systems are difficult to establish and maintain due to the rocky nature, steep slopes, and problematic pipe alignments due to uncontrolled house layouts, among others. 

Mabatini’s daily open street market allows people to reclaim public spaces. It creates space for business and interaction irrespective of one’s background. 

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Slums with poor roads, unclean environment, and poor houses on mountain slopes are a common sight in Mabatini.

The Mabatini area is surrounded by the Kenge River which empties into the Mirongo River. The Mirongo River ends in Lake Victoria. The Mabatiniareas along the Mirongo River have auto-fitting shops and car washing bays. The river banks are littered with all sorts of waste from cow dung to domestic waste. These are contributing to land and water pollution- making the river water unsafe for use.

The effects of urbanization such as population upsurge, increased industrialization, urban agriculture, and rural-urban migration of persons exert pressure on the limited space and clean water. 

Activities at Mirongo River
A photo summing up different human activities along the Mirongo River that flows from the northern part of Mabatini. As people are fetching water for domestic use, food vendors are doing their business beside the river, others are washing clothes and shoes. Others have turned the river into a place of convenience as depicted by a man in a white t-shirt on the left who urinating. 

Thousands of people in Mabatiniward and the surrounding areas continue to consume unsafe water. People in this area can be seen washing clothes, and vehicles and bathing from the polluted water sources, yet according to the scientists, washing or bathing in the lake contributes to nutrient pollution, since detergent contains high levels of phosphorus.

Scientist says the issue of pollution is a day-to-day challenge, mostly in urban areas like at Mirongo River where there is a stream that pours water into Lake Victoria. 

According to the 2022- 2023 Infonile Investigation done in Tanzania, the presence of E.Coli in water affects the people who are surrounding the lake. However, for the people of Mabatini, the lake is a lifeline. Apart from fish, it provides water for drinking, cooking, washing and other purposes to millions of people, despite scientists warning that it is being threatened by pollution, making water unsafe for both human and aquatic life.

According to Chacha Nyechi, residents in Mabatini are innovating every day to make ends meet. For example, he points to the fact that in the past they did not use Kerosene in the work on emptying toilets. 

He explains that when you apply Kerosene, it repels toilet insects, and helps to lessen the smell both in the pit and on the surface.  

Two years ago, Nyachiand his colleagues started a group of toilet emptying specialists. They charge between 80,000 to 100,000 Tanzania shillings (about USD 35 to 37), and it takes two to three people to do an effective job. 

“We saw our people suffering, these toilets were bothering. We saw an opportunity to help communities while earning a living,” he explains

Whereas gloves are a commendable personal protective gear, Nyachi says they opt for kerosene because most do not even know how to wear them.  

IMG_7309
Toilet emptiers use gasoline and water to dilute and kill insects and germs before they draw faecal sludge from the pits using buckets. Practitioners say this is effective. 
IMG_7311
A toilet emptier digs the pit down to a level of 2 to 3 meters (depending on the level of the aquifer and the stability of the walls). During this process, the escaping of gaseous ammonia from the anaerobic reduction of nitrate is very strong and a severe working problem for the toilet emptier.
Passing the faecal sludge to the top of the pit latrine
A toilet emptier passes the bucket full of faecal sludge to his assistant. The man works without gloves, boots and mask because these are too expensive. Additionally, boots would be useless as in the beginning of the emptying process the sludge normally reaches up to the emptiers’ knees.
A toilet emptying assistant discharging the faecal sludge just behind the wall of the yard, in a public street
A toilet emptying assistant discharging the faecal sludge just behind the wall of the yard, in a public place.

In 2023, the Mwanza Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (MWAUWASA) initiated a plan to develop a sewage system to help residents living in mountainous areas specifically the Mabatini ward. The system started with only two streets, SouthernMabatini and St. Benjamini. All other areas of Mabatiniare yet to be covered. 

This move came after the realization by MWAUWASA that poor disposal of wastewater contaminates water sources. That contamination poses a health risk to the people using the water source.  What they do now is they manage wastewater in Mwanza City before disposing in Lake Victoria. 

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Septic tank and its Chambers built in Mabatini Ward- Mwanza City, Built by MWAUWASA to help in the Sewage System for residents living in this area. 

This system focuses on a new improvement for the success of ecological sanitation projects by using urine-diverting dehydrating toilets (UDDTs).  This concept links human waste to food security, recognizing the value of the treated human waste. This shows that the UDDTs is an efficient way to prevent the mixing of urine and faeces by providing an area for these separate waste products to be treated.

The level of acceptance toward UDDT’s concept is acceptable to the people in the Mabatini ward since they have no existing sewer and drainage systems, especially in the mountainous areas. 

This initiative involved community participation. 

Esther DwashiMasanja is the Local leader in South Mabatini. She has lived here since 2000, and her house was surrounded by a stone fence. She notes that after realizing the importance of the sewage system, she decided to give out the stones to MWAUWASA to use in the project. 

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Ms. Esther DwashiMasanja (67), a local leader; while talking to us about access to toilet services for her people in Mabatini South. Her face explains her happiness for what Mwauwasa did to her Ward.

Revina Audax, who lives in the same area as Esther Dwashi says that the government’s plan is good, but it needs to go hand in hand with access to water improvement. 

Revina Audax toilet
Example of dehydration toilets of Mrs. Revina Audax’s toilet (Esther Dwashi’s neighbour) with urine- diversion using local material. The toilet is not roofed, no water inside, if you want to go to the toilet you have to carry a bucket of water, yet the water is water-stressed. 

Residents of North Mabatini and Kleluu Street are still using the old system of flushing toilets during the rainy season. They open toilet chambers when it rains to allow the waste to flow, and it ends up towards the Kenge and MirongoRivers. The two rivers flow to Lake Victoria.

Anthony Msafiri, the chairman of St. Benjamini Street, South Mabatini, says that the sewage problem in their area is sorted thanks to the sewage infrastructure established. He however says that the work is not yet done as residents of the upper area (North Mabatini and Kleluu) are not yet covered with safe sewage facilities. 

“We are now urging the government and stakeholders to speed up this exercise because if we are well and others are not covered, we are all at risk of diseases like cholera that come from poor waste disposal,” he says

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Mr. Antony Msafiri, Chairman- St. Benjamini street, Mabatini South Ward climbing the mountain to show how the Sewage system is distributed in his area. Behind is the new sewage system made by MWAUWASA that links human waste from different places to a collection point that has been designated for treatment.

Besides making reliable water MWAUWASA also provides Sanitation services (https://www.mwauwasa.go.tz/pages/sanitation-services). MWAUWASA wants to improve the sanitation for the people in Mwanza City and conserve the environment. On-site sanitation systems adopted in urban areas need to address the problems associated with faecal sludge management (FSM), especially in relation to difficulties with emptying, transportation and safe disposal of faecal sludge.

Currently, MWAUWASA is operating two suction trucks of capacity 6.5m3 and 10m3 that offer services of emptying sludge of septic tanks and cesspits. The liquid waste of the suction trucks is discharged into the special disposal facility (MWAUWASA Waste stabilization pond) located in Butuja- Ilemela.

Some of the targeted areas have existing underground conventional sewerage systems but parts of these are in poor condition and need to be replaced. Residential areas in hilly terrain are usually not connected to a conventional sewerage system but many have shallow pit latrines, and some have septic tanks or no sanitary facility at all. Problematic in most of these cases is the emptying of latrines and tanks due to the inaccessible terrain. Often facilities do overflow during heavy rains. Connection for public sewerage system in Mwanza city covers 23% of the population. The Municipality is responsible for providing solid waste collection and disposal services within its area of jurisdiction. This includes the periodical emptying of septic tanks

Although incomes are relatively low, the communities are committed to improving their sanitation through simplified sewerage. They say it is acceptable practice to pay for sanitation services parallel with clean and safe water, and easier access to proper sanitation services would reduce social conflicts and communicable diseases.

These observations lead to the conclusion that the communities are willing and able to pay for improved sanitation as long as charges are reasonable and in line with the current economic situation.

A clear indication of this willingness is that people in the communities concerned pay water bills relatively promptly and the sewerage system will negate the charges paid for the construction of the pit latrine which is about TZS 300,000 (most latrines last for less than two years)

The Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation (LVWATSAN) Initiative was launched in 2004 by the ministers responsible for water from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with the aim of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for water and sanitation in secondary centres within the Lake Victoria Basin.

 The Water Sector Development Programme (WSDP; 2005-2023) established under the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MoWI), under which LVWATSAN resorts, is the main financing mechanism for the water sector in Tanzania. Its past five-year programme has foreseen almost USD 1 billion of funding for the WSDP. An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and a Resettlement Management Framework (RMF) for the programme were prepared and completed in 2006.

Eng. Wilbert Bujiku from MWAUWASA was one among the Sewerage Committee that was created for the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation- (LVWATSAN) project in Mwanza (LVWATSAN – Mwanza Immediate Investment Plan (IIP) Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for Simplified Sewerage and Sewer Rehabilitation and Extensions in Ilemela and Nyamagana Districts – Mwanza Region– says it was a joint effort, the Government of Tanzania and the European Investment Bank that were implementing the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project – Mwanza (2014-2019) with the main overarching aim to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for water and sanitation in secondary centres within the Lake Victoria Basin, i.e. in Mwanza City. 

One of the components of the Project was to develop and implement the Immediate Investment Plan (IIP) for Mwanza City, consisting of three ‘categories’, of which ‘simplified sewerage and sewer rehabilitation and extensions’ is the focus of the present report. The planned IIP sewerage works for Mwanza City comprise five (5) sub-components, among them were sewer extensions to areas with simplified sewerage systems, i.e. in Mabatini (Area A + B). 

The targeted developments were all is built in an urban environment that is characterised by densely populated low-cost residential areas or sites that serve a more public function. In these areas, there is generally no surface water. 

He added that a systematic assessment of the expected impacts of the interventions learns that the planned development is expected to lead to a number of positive impacts notably improved sanitation in the targeted areas, reduced inflow of nutrients into Lake Victoria, and some employment. 

In March 2023, InfoNile with support from JRS Biodiversity Foundation conducted a water quality assessment survey in Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria on the Tanzania side. Water samples were taken from within the channel (Mirongo River), at the point the channel joins the lake interface and the lake (1km away from the shore). The parameters tested were pH, turbidity, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, Total Coliforms, E. coli, Grease and Oil, and Lead among others.

From the findings, the parameters pH, cadmium, mercury and total phosphorus were all mostly within the recommended discharge standards (both the Tanzanian standards and the East African standards). However, positive results of E. coli and Total Coliforms indicated that the water was contaminated by the presence of bacteria that could pose risks of waterborne diseases. High values of turbidity (the cloudiness of the water) were also detected, meaning the water is polluted with a variety of dissolved organic and inorganic substances. Some of these inorganic substances include metals, confirmed by the presence of lead which was also found in the water at all sampling points.

Presence of oil and grease was also found in the water samples, implying a lot of  industrial and municipal waste is being channeled there. High values of nitrogen were detected in the water, especially in the Mirongo River and at the point where the river drains into the lake. Excess concentration of nitrogen in water can cause overstimulation of growth of aquatic plants and algae, which clogs water and depletes oxygen, killing aquatic life. High values of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) were detected near the channel that joins the lake interface (Mirongo River and Lake Victoria), meaning the amount of oxygen present there is not enough to oxidize the organic matter and compounds present in the water.

A microplastic survey was also conducted last year to explore the extent and impact of plastic pollution on the lake.13 samples from different locations in Ugandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian waters of Lake Victoria using a specially-designed manta trawl made by Simon Scott Harden from the University of Northumbria that was towed behind Flip Flops. Also on board was a scientist from the University of Dar es Salaam Bahati Mayoma. A total of 29,053 particles measuring between > 5mm to 0.33mm were recovered from water samples taken from all selected sites. Fragments constituted 68% of overall microplastics  recorded followed by fibres 31.4% whereas foam and film together constituted less than 1% of the total particles

From the investigative study, the surface water results showed that microplastics are present in all parts of Lake Victoria regardless of locality and national boundaries. And the quantities will continue increasing so long as there are no joint measures between member states and communities to address the problem.

According to scientists, different test results are attributable to different factors. For example, the presence of oil in the water of the Mirongo river is due to many reasons such as the presence of many car garages and car wash bays in upstream areas. These are responsible for releasing oil and other car lubricants into the environment – ending up in the river. 

On the other hand, the presence of Nitrate in the Mirongo River is attributed to agricultural activities in the river basin. There is maize cultivation in the area, and many farmers apply fertilizers to their gardens.  Fertilizers contain Nitrogen residues that end up in the environment. 

This EverydayNile story was supported by InfoNile, MICT and FOTEA with funding from the IHE-Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme, JRS Biodiversity Foundation and GIZ, on behalf of the German Federal Government.

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