Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 26

SUWASA News

Presently the lagoon has no maturation pond or alternative anaerobic pond to allow for desludging and cleaning.
The lagoon lacks a proper maintenance plan so the single anaerobic pond has been overloaded with solids including
plastics, bottles and other debris. It is also likely that accumulation of grit and sand in the anaerobic basin is reducing
treatment capacity. The lagoon produces foul smells and poor quality effluent is released into the environment (Figure 2).
Incomplete construction explains some of the problems, but poor operation, maintenance and staff training is mostly to
blame. Despite its weaknesses, the lagoon is an improvement over the previous situation where fecal sludge was dumped
in the open on the outskirts of Juba.

Improving Fecal Sludge Management in Juba
It is clear from the foregoing that though a new capital, Juba has strong elements of the framework required for
effective fecal sludge management. However each of the three components of the fecal sludge management chain
namely containment, collection and transportation, and treatment and disposal of sludge, could benefit from further
improvements (Figure 3).
Improving Sludge Containment
Improving fecal sludge management in Juba must start with the way fecal waste is collected and contained in households.
Latrines should be constructed to allow for mechanical emptying with adequate sub-structures such as lined pits or septic
tanks which will help reduce emptying frequencies and therefore lower costs. Given general practice in Juba and across
Africa where toilet construction is a responsibility of the property owner and also given current limited government
spending in the sanitation sector, a demand-driven approach to fecal waste containment is recommended as more cost
effective and sustainable. However this requires building codes to be developed and enforced by Juba City Council.
Improving Sludge Transportation
Private exhauster businesses in Juba have created a potentially viable private-public partnership, and have contributed
to safe disposal of at least 40% of fecal sludge. This should be preserved and enhanced as long as the market remains
viable. Regulation should however be strengthened focusing on overseeing tanker routes through the city, proper parking,
penalties for pollution and stipulating measures for worker safety. The sector could also benefit from streamlined
institutional arrangements within the County and the Council.
Improving Sludge Treatment
Operation and maintenance of the Roton lagoon could be improved through greater technical expertise which could
be provided by a government agency such as the South Sudan Urban Water Corporation (SSUWC). . Alternatively, its
operation could be transferred to SSUWC or the private sector. To ensure sustainability, a formalized plan is needed
for ring-fencing the emptying fees for reinvestment in operation and maintenance of the lagoon, and where possible to
undertake small expansion works. Treatment capacities must also be increased to ensure levels of treatment do not drop
below current ones but rather increase with the related increases in population. There are also opportunities to explore
use of the sludge for biogas or agricultural purposes.

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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015