Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Some Facts About Municipal Water Treatment In Kenya

By Betty Murray


To ensure that water is safe for consumption by a human being, it needs to be treated. Apart from undergoing the treatment process for it to be safe for human consumption, safety is also needed in case it is to be used for washing, bathing and carrying out other domestic duties. Failure to observe safety can result in skin diseases and allergic reactions. Additionally, washing of clothes using hard untreated water can be very difficult given the inability to form lather easily. It is crucial for municipal water treatment in Kenya to be given the attention it deserves so as to prevent the various undesirable events from happening.

Filtration, sedimentation, aeration, use of disinfectants and chlorination are some of the methods involved in the treatment process. As to what technique will be employed in a given situation, it should be stated that it largely depends on the type of substance being treated against.

Industries need to treat their water as well to minimize environmental pollution and harm to humans. Dirty effluent tends to stagnate in pipe systems causing obstruction to flow. Apart from blockage, stagnation can also provide good ground for bacteria to multiply. Scale formation in pipes and industrial water tanks is also a bother because heating water takes longer than expected. Treatment at an industrial scale entails adjusting the acidity and oxygen levels in order to minimize corrosion.

Poor sanitation in municipal areas has resulted in high mortality due to diseases. This can be counteracted through the use of small scale treatment. Households need to invest in solar systems. Solar rays help to directly kill any unwanted microorganisms. Programs can be started at community level to find sustainable ways of carrying out the process.

One of the major reasons why high rates of death are recorded in developing nations particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa is poor hygiene. Lack of treatment plants results in the commodity reaching the community when it is not fit enough for consumption. There is a huge need for the government and the private sector to step in so as to reduce the disease burden.

Biological methods may also be used to achieve similar end results. Examples of such methods include aerated lagoons or ponds. These aerated ponds as the term suggests, employ the use of air or oxygen to facilitate the treatment process. Similarly, activated lagoons provide microbes with oxygen which causes them to lump together and separate from the liquid part. An additional way of is the use of slow sand filters.

Slow sand filtration does not exactly rely on the sand as a filter. As a matter of fact, the sand only acts as a carrier. It contains a biofilm which serves as the natural filter. Typically, the filter system is about one and a half meters deep. It can be created to be cylindrical or rectangular in shape.

In conclusion it is important to state that an effective effluent management process is essential in sustaining the well-being of communities. Various methods are now available. These can be biological, chemical or electrical. The disadvantage of electrical methods is that very high levels of electricity are consumed which may not be affordable for developing nations hence the need to also consider renewable energy.




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