Opportunities and challenges
Development and deployment of
industrial effluent treatment
systems in sub-Saharan Africa
Karoli Njau, University of Dar es Salaam/ Nelson Mandela
African Institute of Science & Technology
Bio-innovate Regional Experts Workshop on Industrial
Effluents Management in East Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19-20 May 2014

Introduction
 One of the most
critical problems of
developing countries
is improper
management of vast
amount of wastes
generated by various
anthropogenic
activities
 More challenging is
the unsafe disposal
of these wastes into
the ambient

Introduction
 Industrial effluents are characterized by
their abnormal turbidity, conductivity,
chemical oxygen demand (COD), total
suspended solids (TSS), biological
oxygen demand (BOD), and total
hardness.
 These industrial discharge may also
contain toxic substances such as heavy
metals, pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, poly-
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
petrochemicals, phenolic compounds
and microorganisms etc.

Introduction
 River systems are the primary means for
disposal of industrial waste.
 Industrial effluent greatly influences the
physical, chemical and biological nature
of the receiving water body
 High levels of pollutants in river water
systems causes an increase in BOD,
COD, TDS, TSS, toxic metals such as
Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb and fecal coliform and
hence make such water unsuitable for
drinking, irrigation and aquatic life

TECHNOLOGIES FOR
TREATING INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATERS Various technologies are available for the
treatment of industrial wastewaters
based on Physical, Chemical and
Biological Treatment methods
For the biological methods
 Aerated systems: Activated Sludge,
SBR, Trickling Filter, Three phase
fluidized bed bio-reactor, aerated
lagoons, Moving bed biofilm reactor, etc.
 Anaerobic systems: UASB, Stirred
Tank Bio-rector, etc.

Trickling FilterTrickling Filter
Activated Sludge
UASB CSTR Bioreactor

Technologies continues
 Despite availability of various WWT
technologies, adoption by Industries in
SSA is low. So few industries have
proper wastewater treatment system in
place
 A study done in Nigeria gives some
insights into the perception of industries
regarding adoption of technology either
for pollution abatement or pollution
preventionJOHN OLATUNJI ADEOTI(2001). Technology Investment In Pollution
Control in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nigerian Manufacturing The
Developing Economies, XXXIX-4 (December 2001): 395–431

TPA Adoption Reason % Respondent Firms
Important Most
Import.
Prevent Environmental
Accidents
91.31 34.82
Environmental Policy 78.32 41.31
International Norm of Parent
Company
51.6 6.54
Improve Environmental Image 71.73 13.03
Product Acceptance in Int.
Markets
6.5 0
Pacify Local Community 54.34 4.3
Adoption of Technologies for Pollution Abatement
(TPA)

Technology Adoption for Pollution
Prevention
Type of Technology for
Pollution Prevention
% of TPP Adoption
due to
Cost
Reductio
n
Environment
al Regulation
Water and Wastewater
Recycling
852 701
Raw materials reuse/recycling 921 303
Changes in raw material inputs 38 29
Integrated physical devices 713 332
Average 72 41

Obstacles to Adoption No. of Respondent
Firms in Sectors
Food &
Beverages
Textiles
Lack of information about EBTs 7 3
High cost of installing and operating
TPA
44 19
Lack of technical capability to use
TPA
1 0
High cost of TPP 1 0
Lack of capability to implement TPP 0 0
Low technical feasibility of TPP 0 0
Uncertain impact of ETs on
competitiveness
3 0

THE INTEGRATED PROCESS FOR
WASTEWATER TREATMENT
DEVELOPED UNDER
BIOINNOVATE

General Layout of the Integrated
Agro Wastewater Treatment Scheme
Advantages :
•Recovery of energy and nutrients, incentive to treat
•Better quality of final effluent
SLUDGE
PROCESSING
BIO-
REACTO
R
CONSTRUCTED
WETLAND
Pre-
treatment
Re-Use of
Water
and
Nutrients
Modification of
characteristics Final Polishing
Bio gas

BIOGAS PROJECT @ BIL

Constructed Wetland @BIL

OPPORTUNITIES
 Most industries in the SSA are NOT treating
their wastewater adequately. The numbers
that need sustainable WWT technologies is
HIGH
 Many are agro-based with wastewaters
containing high levels of BOD/COD. This is
excellent potential for energy recovery option
 Energy costs are high in SSA.
Replacement of fossil fuels by biogas is a
great incentive for industries to adopt
 In many SSA countries Policy and
accompanying Law exists

CHALLENGES
 Enforcement of existing laws is weak
in many countries in the SSA region
◦ “ One of the greatest challenges of an
enforcement department in a developing
country comes in form of threats from
powerful individuals and groups. When
such individuals and/or groups own
industries which in turn form themselves
into associations, they become extremely
formidable”

CHALLENGES
 Lack of serious incentive schemes
to encourage industries to comply-
carrot and stick approach
 Perception of Industries that taking
care of environment is costly
 Investment Cost for establishing
proper ETP vs sizes of the companies
in the region (small and medium
scale)

CHALLENGES
 Lack of financing mechanism to
finance waste treatment systems
 Low knowledge among industries on
the technological possibilities available

“The costs of compliance with
environmental regulations are
determined, in part, by the cost
and availability of alternative
production and abatement
technologies, and regulations
themselves can affect the nature
and rate of technological change”.

THE COST BURDEN
The cost burden can be in the form of
 Capital Investment
 Running costs
 Capital costs depend on technologies
of choice – cheap is not always the
best option
 Running Costs depend on the
complexity of the process and the
inputs needed

WAYS TO REDUCE THE COST
BURDEN
 Availability of low interest funding
mechanisms for environmental
technologies
 Tax relief on such investments
 Monetary Incentives for compliance
and disincentives for non compliance
 Planning industrial system as an
ecological system where waste from
one industry can be a raw material for
another –(reduces the waste to be
treated)

WAYS TO REDUCE THE COST
BURDEN cont..
 The waste management “value chain”, which
includes the collection, treatment, reuse,
disposal and recycling of various waste
streams, provides economic incentives that
allow for the private sector to be an effective
partner in environmental management.
 Create a new venture within the waste
treatment where the resource recovery step
can be handled by a separate investor (e.g.
energy production). This will divide the costs
between two investors with very different
ultimate aim.

WAYS TO INCREASE
ADOPTION
 Improve enforcement of existing laws
 Introduce financial or non-financial
incentives for compliance to
environmental law
 Introduce disincentives for non-
compliance
 Provide enabling environment for private
sector investment in the waste
management value chain
 Awareness building among industries on
available possibilities

CONCLUSIONS
 Mechanism to ease the investment cost for
environmental technologies is key to
adoption. Unless this is resolved local
companies in the SSA countries will
continue to find it difficult to implement
sound technologies for wastewater
treatment
 Industries in SSA are likely to adopt if value
is created along the chain. Designers of
ET systems need to innovate systems
which create a value along the treatment
chain. If this created value can directly
influence general costs of the firm the
adoption is more likely
 Policy and policy environment influences

END

 Industries are the major sources of pollution in all environments.
Based on the type of industry, various levels of pollutants can be
discharged into the environment directly or indirectly
 through public sewer lines. Wastewater from industries includes
employees’ sanitary waste, process wastes from manufacturing,
wash waters and relatively uncontaminated water from heating and
cooling operations [7]. High levels of pollutants in river water
systems causes an increase in biological oxygen demand (BOD),
chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total
suspended solids (TSS), toxic metals such as Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb and
fecal
 coliform and hence make such water unsuitable for drinking,
irrigation and aquatic life. Industrial
 wastewaters range from high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
from biodegradable wastes
 such as those from human sewage, pulp and paper industries,
slaughter houses, tanneries and
 chemical industry.

Technology Response for
Pollution Abatement (TPA)
JOHN OLATUNJI ADEOTI(2001). Technology Investment In Pollution Control in Sub-
saharan Africa: Evidence from Nigerian Manufacturing The Developing Economies,
XXXIX-4 (December 2001): 395–431