Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana

Failure is the norm for urban sanitation infrastructure in Ghana: of the rather substantial number of wastewater and faecal sludge treatment plants, with about 70 mostly decentralized systems throughout the country, less than 10 are operating effectively. This research presents an overview of the re...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Murray, Ashley, Drechsel, Pay
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Practical Action Publishing 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40189
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author Murray, Ashley
Drechsel, Pay
author_browse Drechsel, Pay
Murray, Ashley
author_facet Murray, Ashley
Drechsel, Pay
author_sort Murray, Ashley
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Failure is the norm for urban sanitation infrastructure in Ghana: of the rather substantial number of wastewater and faecal sludge treatment plants, with about 70 mostly decentralized systems throughout the country, less than 10 are operating effectively. This research presents an overview of the related sanitation situation in Ghana, and compares the few successful facilities with their failed counterparts in order to decipher the factors that enable the former to prevail. The research reveals important differences in the operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies, financing schemes and incentive structures in the successful versus unsuccessful facilities, which are probably not unique to Ghana. Based on the findings, we suggest a set of guiding questions for incorporation into the existing planning, funding or general decision-making framework in order to avoid commonly observed traps, which not only undermine progress in the delivery of sanitation services but also harshly affect environmental and public health.
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spelling CGSpace401892025-06-17T08:23:29Z Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana Murray, Ashley Drechsel, Pay wastewater treatment monitoring sanitation case studies incentives public health households Failure is the norm for urban sanitation infrastructure in Ghana: of the rather substantial number of wastewater and faecal sludge treatment plants, with about 70 mostly decentralized systems throughout the country, less than 10 are operating effectively. This research presents an overview of the related sanitation situation in Ghana, and compares the few successful facilities with their failed counterparts in order to decipher the factors that enable the former to prevail. The research reveals important differences in the operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies, financing schemes and incentive structures in the successful versus unsuccessful facilities, which are probably not unique to Ghana. Based on the findings, we suggest a set of guiding questions for incorporation into the existing planning, funding or general decision-making framework in order to avoid commonly observed traps, which not only undermine progress in the delivery of sanitation services but also harshly affect environmental and public health. 2011-04 2014-06-13T14:47:08Z 2014-06-13T14:47:08Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40189 en Open Access Practical Action Publishing Murray, Ashley; Drechsel, Pay. 2011. Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana. Waterlines, 30(2):135-149. doi: https://doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2011.015
spellingShingle wastewater treatment
monitoring
sanitation
case studies
incentives
public health
households
Murray, Ashley
Drechsel, Pay
Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title_full Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title_fullStr Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title_short Why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail? Case study from the sanitation sector in Ghana
title_sort why do some wastewater treatment facilities work when the majority fail case study from the sanitation sector in ghana
topic wastewater treatment
monitoring
sanitation
case studies
incentives
public health
households
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40189
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