Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa

2.9 Conclusion

wastewater treatment technologies, institutional and policy reforms) under specified programmes, there is hardly any documented information on their progress and impacts. Appendix 2.1 summarises the key sources of wastewater, and the commonly used treatment technologies. Rural areas where the majority of Africa’s population lives, remain underserved by water supply and sanitation due to the sparse settlements, and in some cases the nomadic lifestyles of some rural dwellers. The available infrastructure for sanitation is not only inadequate, but is often not durable and resilient enough to stand bad weather.

There is little information and data on wastewater generation, collection and treatment for the various waste streams, especially industrial and agricultural streams, in the majority of African countries. Where some datasets are available, they are rather old (more than five or six years). Data on treatedwastewater reuse following treatment of various waste streams (i.e. proportions of water treated and for which reuse options) are also limited. Whereas there are ongoing efforts to address the pollution problems in the various subregions of Africa (for example, through appropriate

Avoidable diseases such as cholera and dysentery are the result of poor sanitation, including broken sewers

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SANITATION AND WASTEWATER ATLAS OF AFRICA