Improving Mtwapa Creek water quality by use of Constructed Wetland Wastewater Treatment Technology in Shimo la Tewa – IMCoW Project
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Duration of project:
2 Years
Objectives of project:
A. Overall objective: The project overall objective is to enhance conservation of marine resources in Mtwapa Creek through reduction of land based sources of pollution from Shimo La Tewa prison facility using constructed wetland for wastewater management.
Specific objectives:
1. Redesign, rehabilitate and improve operation of existing constructed wetland.
2. Improve general sanitation in the prison facility.
3. Improve food security by utilising treated water from the wetland for fish and crop production.
4. Disseminate constructed wetlands technology for uptake by other stakeholders.
Marine and coastal ecosystems are impacted by natural and anthropogenic stressors. Discharge of domestic, industrial and agricultural wastes into marine ecosystems results in deterioration of water and sediment quality with negative impacts on ecosystem integrity, biodiversity conservation, shoreline stability, community livelihood, and revenue generation. Mtwapa Creek, an Indian Ocean inlet along the Kenya coast receives wastewater from point and non-point sources resulting in deteriorating water quality. The proposed project (IMCoW) will address the issue of wastewater management in Shimo la Tewa Prison being one of the major sources of pollution into Mtwapa Creek. The project proposes to use constructed wetland technology in managing wastewater from Shimo la Tewa prison, a correction facility administered by the Kenya Prison Service under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. The proposed IMCoW project will redesign, rehabilitate, improve and operationalise the Shimo La Tewa wastewater treatment system into an efficient and easy to maintain constructed wetland system for the treatment of sewage and wastewater at the prison facility. This will mitigate against low water discharge into Mtwapa creek and by so doing improve the water quality of the creek. Treated water from the outlet of the system will be utilized for aquaculture and farming of horticultural crops in order to complement the nutritional requirement for the correctional facility and enhance food security. The project further intends to improve the prison sanitation by rehabilitating the sewer line and bathrooms. Once complete and operational, the project is intended to come up with an efficient and sustainable constructed wetland that can be replicated or upscaled nationally and regionally. This project responds to problem area 2 of WIOLAB TDA/SAP and is grounded on WIOSAP priority area of reducing impacts from land-based sources and activities and sustainably manage critical coastal and marine ecosystems with the support of partnerships at national and regional levels.
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