Zoomlion will on Friday commission the Lavender Hill Faecal and Mudor Waste water treatment plants in Accra.

The plants, designed for a lifespan of 20 years and more will be owned and operated by Sewage Systems Ghana Limited after the commissioning.

Lavender Hill beach has been used as a dumpsite for a large proportion of Accra's Septage (faecal matter from our septic tanks and public toilets) since the 1970s. This practise has had an immense effect on the environs adjacent to the beach, with devastating impacts on environmental sanitation, hygiene, health care and marine life quality (a source of sustenance and protein for many of Accra's inhabitants).

 A suitable, environmentally sustainable and lawful alternative to this practise is thus timely. The construction of the Lavender Hill Plant commenced in 2012, at the cost of over USD 25 Million. 

The Septage Treatment Plant with a maximum treatment capacity of 2,400 cu.m/day and a design capacity of 2,000 cu.m/day  is unique as there are few plants in the world designed for treating septage.

The vast majority of wastewater treatment plants are designed for processing the contents of sewer systems, (as the Mudor waste water treatment plant is doing) and not septage, which is delivered to disposal sites via suction trucks.

 This plant is thus not only the first of its kind in Ghana, but a first for the sub-region, and an innovation that can be replicated in many emerging market cities with limited sewer network coverage, or the complete absence of sewer network.

 The Plant consists of a Primary Treatment stage which includes screening, primary settling, raw Septage and sludge dewatering.

 A Secondary Treatment stage which includes Anaerobic Digestion (UASB), Anoxic-Oxic Digestion and Secondary Settling

A Tertiary Treatment stage which includes Ultra Violet Disinfection; Biogas Utilization (Combined Heat and Power), Digested Sludge Dewatering.

The plant comprises also of a modern laboratory which will test the both the influent and the effluent qualities of the waste water. The final effluent will meet the EPA standards and will also be pumped back into the system for reuse in the plant.

Biological Process Start Up Time is between is a maximum of 90 days.

Mudor Waste Water Treatment Plant

Max Treatment Capacity              21,000 cu.m/day;

Design Capacity                18,000 cu.m/day;

Population Equivalents 105,000 Persons per day;

Background       

Accra's Central Business District and portions of Labone and Osu and ministries are  served by a Sewer Network System. In the early 2000s the Mudor Waste Water Treatment Plant was commissioned to treat this waste which was pumped from five pumping stations ( Ministries, Osu/Labonie, State house, Korlebu and the Central Accra pumping stations). A few years after commissioning the plant became dysfunctional.

Sewage Systems together with its Chinese contractors have rehabilitated the plant. Prior to the rehabilitation works on the plant, the contents of the sewer system were pumped out to sea via an outfall pipe.

As a result of the expansion of the sewer network under the Accra Sewerage improvement project Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited has expanded the capacity of the plant from 16,000 cu.m per day to 18,000 cu.m/day.

The treatment process comprises:

Primary Treatment which includes Screening, Grit Removal;

Secondary Treatment  which includes Anaerobic Digestion (UASB), Sludge Thickening and

Tertiary Treatment which includes  Digested Sludge Drying.

 The Biological Process Start Up Time is  a maximum of 90 days

KOTOKU  SEPTAGE TREATMENT PLANT

Process Name   Septage & Leachate Treatment Plant

Max Treatment Capacity              1,100 cu.m/day

Design Capacity                1,000 cu.m/day Septage; 100 cu.m/day Leachate;

Population Equivalents 935,000 Persons per day;

Background       

Construction of the Kotoku Plant commenced in 2012, at the cost of over USD 10 Million.  The Plant, a smaller version of the Lavender Hill Plant, is also designed for a lifespan of 20 years and more. Primary Treatment which includes: Screening, Primary Settling, Raw Septage Sludge Dewatering;

Secondary Treatment which includes:  Anaerobic Digestion (UASB), Anoxic- Oxic Digestion, Secondary Settling;

Tertiary Treatment which includes: Membrane Bio-Reactor; Biogas Flaring, Digested Sludge Dewatering;

Biological Process Start Up Time  is a maximum of 90 days