Innovative Technologies ForIntegrated Water Resources

Management In Africa

Ebenezer D.O. Ansa

Outline of presentation

• Background

• Pollution Monitoring Technologies

• GIS and Social Media Networks

• Pollution Control Technologies

• Criteria for Technology Selection

• Industrial Wastewater Treatment

• Domestic Wastewater Treatment

The IWRM Approach

• “The water crisis today is a crisis of managingwater so badly that billions of people and theenvironment suffer badly”

• “Our vision is a world in which all people haveaccess to safe and sufficient water resources tomeet their needs, including food, in ways thatmaintain the integrity of freshwater ecosystems”

Source: World Water Council, 2000

The pollution control concept

• Pollutionmonitoring

• Pollution control

Pollutants from theatmosphere

Storm water fromfarms

Effluent froma factory

Pollution Monitoring Technologies

• The case of LakeKinneret, Israel

Monitoring techniques

Real Time Monitoring on Lake Kinneret

Real Time Monitoring- Chlorophyll-ameasurement

Biological Sampling MethodsExample: Benthic organisms

• Tedious

• Time consuming

• Inaccurate

Sampling inwater withequipment

Washing andtransferring samplesinto bottles

Sorting, identifyingand counting underdissecting microscope

Biological Sampling MethodsNew methods

GIS and Social Media Networks in IWRM

• AWRA meeting toexplore possibilities

• Objective includes

• Saving lives

• Water supply

• The environment

twitter

Pollution controlCriteria for technology selection

• Robustness

• Waste generation

• Re-use benefits

• Extent of chemical use and degree ofenvironmental nuisance

• Energy source and other costs

Eco-technologies: What are they ?

• Sustainable systems that operates on ecologicalprinciples with benefits to both human societyand the environment (University of Washington)

• Engineered systems that utilize the naturalfunctions of wetland vegetation, soils and theirmicrobial populations to treat contaminants insurface water, ground water or waste streams(Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, USA)

Eco-technologies in IWRM

Pollutants from theatmosphere

Storm water fromfarms

Effluent froma factory

Industrial effluents and storm water:Constructed Wetlands

Influent

Pre-treatmentpond

Effluent

Putrajaya constructed wetland

• 24 wetland cells (200ha)

• Removes agriculturalpollutants before entry intoadjoining lake.

• Removal by 6 cells were asfollows:

• TN: 82%, NO3-N: 71%,PO4: 84%

• Wetland created a pleasantlandscape for eco-tourism andwild life

Africa’s resource potential in relation to eco-technology use

• Sunshine

• Diversity

• Labour and land

Pollutants from domestic sources

Benefits of combined WSPs and CWs

• Robustness

• High purification rates

• Nutrient removal

• Mosquito breeding

• Aesthetic value

• Erosion

• Economic benefits

Key message

• 70% of water abstraction from basins could besaved in Ghana

• A shift towards use of real time technologies

• Pollution prevention and control is the wayforward

• Economic benefits

• Research is essential to adapt thesetechnologies

Thank you