Abstract:

The water supply in Ghana is becoming vulnerable enough that it could threaten the country’s 25 million people.

Ahmed Abuhussein, an Environmental Engineering graduate student spent 5 months in Ghana to address institutional, social and technical gaps in applying treated wastewater in agriculture. With 66% of Ghana's withdrawn water earmarked for agriculture (which makes up almost half of the country's GDP) the use of treated wastewater could have a significant impact. Currently, 81% of the country's wastewater is not being treated and of the 9% being collected, less than 6% is 'appropriately' treated. Abuhussein conducted field work at a local waste stabilization pond and interviewed local authorities, industries and non-for-profit organizations in the country.

Abuhussein wants to look towards a project that combines technical and monetary aspects that will address the quality of the water and its end use, because the treatment will be different. He has said many small farms use non-treated wastewater, simply extracting what flows through the open gutters on their property.