Stop Dumping Diapers, Pads, Used Condoms, Others Into Toilets — Expert

Chemical Engineer and Head of Process Engineering at the Lavender Hill Faecal and Mudor Waste Treatment Plant, Ing Eric Simon Amofa-Sarkodie is urging the public to desist from dropping foreign materials after visiting the washroom.

He says aside causing damage to their treatment machines, they incur extra cost to dispose of those waste properly.

According to him, foreign materials such as baby diapers, sanitary pads, remains of aborted fetuses, condoms, mobile phones are among a few objects which pops up during the treatment process.

He said “When they are dislodging the waste-water, we mostly notice foreign materials such as condoms, aborted babies, money, mobile phones, jeans, pads, shoes everything. For the phones, I could adduce that it happens when people go to toilet with their mobile phones in their pockets. We have machines that will remove all these materials from the faecal waste because when we allow it to pass it could cause damage to the treatment plant. All this comes as a cost to the country.”

He continued, “...for almost three years now the stench that those people living around Korle-Lagoon and James town were experiencing is no more. Because the stench came about by the disposal of the raw faecal waste into the sea.”

He however disclosed that most sewage systems are connected to some homes in parts of Accra which carries liquid waste directly to the facility.

“Currently, the facility treats about 200 cubic meters of liquid waste which is about 250 trucks a day. We get about 307 trucks in a day. We have the capacity to receive more than that because we have storage facilities,” he disclosed.

The Chemical Engineer further emphasized that the facility will soon produce 7.5 megawatts of power from the biogas.

The Chief Executive Officer of Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyapong has also revealed his organization is coming up with strategies to start waste management plants in all 16 regions.

He believes this will assist the waste management companies since technology will be used to deal with waste in the country.