A $15 million project that was launched last year to stop the dumping of raw fecal waste into the sea is set to complete its test run afterMay this year.
The Lavender Hill Feacal Treatment Plant, which is managed by waste management giant, Zoomlion, currently receives an average of about 200 septic trucks a day – wastes that would have hitherto found its way into the sea or the Korle Lagoon (Lavender Hill).
However, when the plant commences operation later this year, the number of septic trucks that can be processed a day is expected to increase significantly.
The plant, the first of its kind in West Africa, has a maximum treatment capacity of 2,400 cu.m/day.
The Engineer-in-charge of the treatment plant, Florence Cobbald, said the plant is likely to start full operation in July this year.
“We are trying to test our machines to ascertain our level of preparedness and ensure that nothing affects our work once we start full operations,” she said. The plant consists of three stages: the Primary Treatment stage which involves screening to remove large substances from the raw sewage, the Primary Setting stage, and the Raw Septage and Sludge Dewatering stage.
Production of biogas from the treated raw sewage will also become possible when full operation starts in July.
These were revealed during a tour with media personnel to key installations of Zoomlion Ghana.
Apart from the treatment plant, journalists were also taken to the Korle Lagoon where dredging is being done by Dredge Masters, another Zoomlion subsidiary that focuses on dredging choked waterways and drains.
At the Korle Lagoon, the Operations Manager of Dredge Masters, Sena Adiepena, said the next phase of dredging process will target the large wastes, which sometimes include dead bodies deliberately dumped into the muddy lagoon, as well as other large obstructions that make the dredging a daunting task.
Former President John Mahama last year marked the officially shut down the Lavender Hill in Accra, notorious for its unpleasant stench, and opened the new fecal treatment in a bid to improve the country’s sanitation.
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