At the Institute of Water and Sanitation Development (IWSD), we believe that students are the future innovators and leaders of the water and sanitation sector. We offer a dynamic environment where aspiring researchers can explore critical issues, develop their skills, and contribute to evidence-based solutions that improve lives and protect our planet.
Our research agenda aligns with our institutional mandate, focusing on water resources and supply management, sanitation, and environmental management. We recognize the complex interplay of these areas, and emphasize cross-cutting issues such as climate change, hygiene, social inclusion, and gender equality in our research endeavors.
Students at IWSD have the opportunity to engage in diverse research projects that address real-world challenges. These may include investigating the impacts of climate change on water availability, developing innovative technologies for water purification and wastewater treatment, designing sustainable sanitation systems for diverse communities, examining gender dynamics in water resource management, and assessing the social and economic impacts of WASH interventions. We also explore the effectiveness of hygiene promotion strategies, analyze water governance and policy frameworks, and investigate community-based approaches to water and sanitation management.
Joining our research community offers a unique opportunity for students to make a tangible difference. Under the mentorship of experienced researchers and practitioners, students gain hands-on experience in designing and conducting research, analyzing data, and communicating findings to diverse audiences. They also benefit from IWSD's extensive network, data resources, and state-of-the-art facilities.
We believe in fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment where students can learn from each other and contribute to a shared vision for a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable future. If you are passionate about water and sanitation issues and eager to make a positive impact, we invite you to explore our research opportunities and join us in shaping the future of this vital sector.
Assessment of the sustainability of solid waste management in Epworth
The research was carried out to control with intentions of wanting to understand the causes and effects of the continuous piling of domestic waste in Epworth. The objectives of the study were to find out how solid waste collection is organised in Epworth and to assess waste management techniques that were being used within the Epworth communities. The research also recommended for some feasible and sustainable techniques that maybe used to address waste management in Epworth such as the introduction of waste segregation at source (at homes). The researcher used Focus Group Discussions, key-informant questionnaires and structured interviews to gather the data which was then analysed using content and thematic analyses procedures. The findings of the study revealed that the continuous dumping of domestic solid waste at undesignated places without the waste being collected has led to the outbreak of diseases, environmental problems such as land degradation, traffic inconveniences and the general loss of suburb natural aesthetics. The researcher recommended for the introduction of waste segregation concept at homes and separate recyclables, reuse of waste causing for the reduction of waste.
Introduction
Sanitation and hygiene promotion are considered the two most effective interventions for controlling endemics and pandemics. It is widely considered that WASH projects aims at linking water, sanitation and hygiene implying that there should be equal emphasis on all the three components. Solid waste generation and waste disposal remains key elements of WASH projects and education that promotes good hygiene practises and behaviour remains WASH mantra. Waste generation is on the rise especially in developing countries with the introduction of expanded polystyrene and face masks (to curb for COVID-19 infections) which currently cannot be handled since they cannot yet be recycled and also the levels of waste collection has been deteriorating due to financial instability within most developing countries.
Justification of study
Epworth suburb has been an epi-centre should any waterborne disease epidemic be encountered 8in Harare. This renders waste generation and waste disposal management as a paramount approach coupled with hygiene education which can help to reduce the incidence of diseases in Epworth. Sustainable Development Goal number 3 and 6 seeks to halve the proportion of people without access to WASH; this is of vital relevance as it aims to ensure a good health and well-being to everyone and the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Methodology
This chapter represents the research paradigm the researcher adopted. A small sample of the population was collected through the use of purposive sampling technique which permits the selection of interviewees whose qualities or experiences permit an understanding of the phenomena in question, and are therefore valuable. The research instruments of the study involved use of Focus Group Discussions, key informant interviews and observations. Focus Group Discussions is a method of data collection in which the researcher discusses the aspects of the research problems with key respondents in order to come up with relevant data pertaining the study. During the Focus group discussions, disagreements would emanate within the key informants and this therefore rendered a lot of time consumed and loss of focus within the group. The researcher used in-depth interviews to gather data from the Epworth respondents. The interview comprised of semi-structured questions which the researcher captured as recordings. The interviews permitted the respondents to properly articulate their views on the issues under study. The ambiguity that could also arise during the collection of data could be clarified.
Results Analysis and Interpretation
This chapter presents an analyses and an interpretation of the data collected using various data collection techniques. The chapter also provides the findings pertaining to the objectives of the study, which sought to find out the problems caused by domestic solid waste piling along the streets in Epworth suburb. Five groups were used to classify the household composition in terms of the number of individuals within the particular household. The majority of the respondents in the study identified the potential risk of disease outbreaks as the major challenge posed by waste stockpiling on their roads. The respondents cited diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria as unending due to the conducive environment being created within Epworth.
Large heaps of solid waste were also being said to cause blockages within drains and other sanitary facilities and also as the sole source of bad odours within the community. The researcher also found out that there is inadequate solid waste collection as vans send by the Municipal Authority only comes once a week and sometimes once in two weeks in a suburb where waste of 2 tonnes is being produced a day. There is also no provision of bins from the local authority hence the genesis of solid waste being dumped and piled in undesignated places. This is done as a result of one bin and there is continuous waste being produced hence the once the bin is full it is emptied whether through formal means (damping in skip bins or being collected by local authority vans or informal means (damping of solid waste on an open free space).
Conclusion
From the findings in the study, the conclusions made were, the stockpiles of solid waste in Epworth presents health, environmental, accessibility and loss of suburb aesthetics, waste collection facilities provision in Epworth by the local authority is not suffice to the demands of waste being generated and the major waste management methods being used by residents are the informal means which include burning, burying and damping on open spaces.
Recommendations
The City Council must increase the number of refuse collection days to counteract high volumes of solid waste being produced. Residents in Epworth community must be equipped with enough knowledge in the financial benefits in solid waste so that they value solid waste.
Sustainability Assessment of Solid Waste Management in Zimbabwe: A case study of Bulawayo Residential Suburbs
Improper management of solid waste poses many challenges to the stakeholders such as residents, local authorities, business community and other support groups. The general objective of the study is to assess the sustainability of waste management in Bulawayo suburbs. Specific objectives were to characterise the solid waste generated in the suburbs, to examine the solid waste management criteria in Bulawayo Residential area and to evaluate potential gaps which can be used to bring sustainable interventions in Solid Waste Management system Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used by the researcher to collect data. Stratifies systematic sampling was employed to select 24 households. Bulawayo City Council officials to be interviewed were selected through the use of non-probability sampling. Data was collected through the use of interview-administered questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and observations. The results of the study indicated that Solid Waste Management in Bulawayo suburbs is inefficient.
8.51 tonnes of solid waste is being produced per week in suburbs and only 2.0 tonnes is being collected during the entire week and 6.5 tonnes is left uncollected. This has led to widespread illegal dumping of waste, inconsistent collection of waste, insufficient provision of solid waste receptacles from the city council and the Bulawayo City Council dumps its solid waste in a ghost mine shaft (Richmond mine) as its sanitary landfill. It was also noted that there is no separation of waste according to type at the source. The study therefore recommended for an increase in awareness campaigns to ensure a change in residents attitude towards solid waste management. In addition, the Bulawayo City Council should play its part in collecting of refuse from households by increasing the frequency with which waste is collected. The residents need also to be notified of the financial benefit of solid waste such as decomposable organic matter being used to generate biogas.
Materials and Methodology
The study adopted a case study method because data collection and analysis is performed within the context of phenomenon, and it enables capturing of complexities of real life situations so that the phenomenon can be studied in greater levels of depth. The study population involved Bulawayo City Council Officials involved in Solid Waste Management (Ward 3 Councillor, Director of Engineering Department, Town Planner, Environmental Health Technicians and officials from the department of Housing and Community services. In order to achieve the research objectives, the study adopted the use of observations, interview administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather data.
The interview administered questionnaire was compiled taking into consideration of the fact that communities consists of educated and less educated residents hence literacy level of respondent was not very necessary. Semi-structured interviews were meant to assist in explaining and interpreting the data collected through both observation and interview administered questionnaires. These were administered face to face. The research used secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data substantiates and increases evidence from other sources hence the researcher made use of solid waste management documents such as Solid Waste Management System Plan, Technical Requirements Document for the Waste Flow Analysis, World Bank Service Level Benchmark Documents and other strategic plan documents as well as meetings. Household samples were manually taken from one corner to the other corner of the 8 streets of the study area on the refuse collection day. Solid waste samples were also collected from a commercial setting, offices and educational facilities within the study area. To mitigate against possible errors in estimating, a dual approach to collection of data was done. Waste generation amount was estimated through use of empirical data calculated as
W=per capita generation ×population
Where, W is Total Municipal Solid waste generated per day
Data Results and Analysis
The study area (Bulawayo Suburbs) generates and disposes large quantities of paper, plastics, glass, yard waste including tree leaves and other miscellaneous materials, which are collectively labelled Municipal Solid Waste. Biodegradable fraction in the collected MSW was found to be contributing to half of the waste generated. The physical composition including papers, glass, plastics, etc contributed to 29% and the mean inert composition of inert, ash and debris in the study contributed 21.06% of the whole Municipal Solid Waste, which might be due to burning of municipal solid waste, construction activities progressing at the study are, etc. The solid waste generated in city suburbs is primarily produced by residential, institutional and commercial sources. Medical waste is not disposed through the local authority solid waste management system, they are incinerated at point of generation as per the provision of the Public Health Act [chapter 15:17], this leaves the waste generated in Suburbs to be non-hazardous to the humans.
A total of 47.0596 tonnes of municipal solid waste were being generated in the study area where 2.8kg was being produced per capita per day, an average of 4 people per household over 686 residential stands (8 streets) and 6 institutional stands. The obtained value of 47.0596tonnes per week is too large a value to be collected weekly using one compactor that compacts only at most 10 tonnes per every collection. It was also observed that a significant number of households did not bring out all their waste for collection during the study period, some giving reasons that they do not have solid waste receptacles and they are the ones practising damping on illegal sites and this to a greater extent affected the study results. The collection of waste once a week led to a collection efficiency of 25%, which is too low compared to the generation of solid waste being within the study area prompted for illegal open dumping and backyard incineration. The Bulawayo City Council transports solid waste to the disposal site and the waste is not confined, compacted and covered as per demands of a sanitary landfill. The landfill which is a shaft does not have a leachate removal system hence groundwater contamination is inevitable.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The results of the study indicated that of the 8.51 tonnes produced per day within the study area only 2.0 tonnes is collected per day and 6.51 tonnes is left uncollected. There is widespread illegal dumping of waste, inconsistent collection of waste, insufficient provision of waste receptacles and the City Council’s official dumpsite is illegal. The researcher recommended for:
• Need to encourage for separation of waste at source which maybe be motivated by the Council giving incentives to residents in so doing
• There is need for the adoption of modern technology such as Geographical Information Systems, Global Positioning System and integrated software packages which enable better quality data to be collected without the use of estimation or manual data entry.
The role played by NGO’s in improving WASH in rural areas. Case study of Mbire Rural District.
The study sought to examine the role played by NGO’s in improving water and sanitation in Mbire rural district. Questionnaires were administered and interviews were used to assess the WASH conditions currently facing the population in Mbire and the extent to which the NGO’s intervention reached. The interventions of the NGO’s involved provision for water supply, toilet facilities and the questionnaires emphasized on how these intervention affected education, community development and the health of the community members. The study showed that before the intervention of the NGOs, water supply was very poor which led to the unhygienic practices, as 73.3% of the population was subjected to not portable water and the 26.7% had access to borehole water and not even in close proximity as some had to travel up to at least 2km to fetch water. The NGOs improved water supply by construction of boreholes, assisted in building toilet facilities at schools and at homesteads and also education on WASH programs and this helped in mainstreaming of gender according to UN SDG 5. However the NGOs were faced with the challenges such as public dependency syndrome, country and community internal policies, corruption and a lot of resistance to change from the community.
Introduction
According to sanitation perspectives report in the new Zimbabwe (2010), the post-independence era saw a boom in WASH supported by a highly motivated civil service, generous external support, receptive communities who demanded services of certain quality and standard and an enabling environment through national policies and strategies. Rural water supply is mainly wells and boreholes and boreholes malfunctioning costs the whole community as knowledge to fix most of the time is not at hand hence this leaves the people in that community only to fetch water from nearby places and mostly it is from rivers and wells. Due to financial constraints and other competing demands, the Government of Zimbabwe has failed to fully provide safe water for the people in the rural areas thus NGO’s have come in and complimented the works of the state by being actively involved in the water and sanitation sector through improved sanitation and hygiene education promotion campaigns. They came in order to help the country attain quality sanitation services with much emphasis on the rural sector. Rural areas in Mashonaland central faces severe water problems because they have not been considered a priority in water provision and failure to provision of water hinders attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Methods and Materials
A sample size of 39 people was interviewed all selected randomly from the 12 wards and local government households in each ward as a representation of the whole of Mbire. Purposive sampling was used for the data collection. The researcher used interviews to get an in depth understanding of the problems the community is facing and to what extent the NGOs have been helpful as using vernacular language made it easier. The researcher also used the use of desktop research method and through internet surfing, the researcher was able to get broader statistics of the knowledge gap. The use of observing also allowed the researcher to have a photographic knowledge of the situation on the ground.
Results and Analysis
This chapter gives an overview on the respondents coping strategies with the water and sanitation situation before and after NGO intervention in Mbire Rural District. The results showed that the number of people who fetched water from unsafe sources surpassed those who get their water from the boreholes because of very few boreholes within the area.
Integrating early childhood development into primary school education system in Zimbabwe. Implications to WASH delivery in Zvishavane District Schools.
Schools are places where students actively stay most of their time during the day, and therefore for healthy and conducive learning environment, children need safe water for drinking and hand washing, and safe and friendly-to-use sanitation facilities. The introduction of ECD in Primary Education resulted in a rapid increase in the number of children in primary schools. It is from this background that the study seeks to explore the implications of integrating ECD into Primary school on WASH delivery in Zvishavane District. Interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and questionnaires were used to collect relevant data from 30 rural schools. A desk review of journal articles, books, and conference proceedings, published and unpublished reports from internet sources relevant to the study provided secondary data.
It was discovered that the ratios of pupil to squat hole were very high in some schools. The proportion of non-functioning sanitary facilities was too high and hence worsening the pupil squat-hole ratio. The study revealed that the frequency of cleaning WASH facilities in most schools was less than three times a day. The study shows ECD students were not being accompanied when using WASH facilities because of outnumbered staff. The source of water in two thirds of the schools was a borehole with a hand pump and some schools had a piped water supply. In most of the schools, the water was being shared with the community, another school or a clinic. This has a bearing on the maintenance and access to adequate water to the school. Whilst in most of the schools the water source was functional, the number of schools with non-functional water points was high. Only a third of the schools provided anal cleansing materials and old exercise books and newspapers were being administered to two thirds of the schools being monitored.
Background
Due to the laxity in policies governing registration, most of the centres operated with inappropriate and inadequate sanitary facilities thereby compromising the delivery of WASH services. A commission of enquiry conducted into education in 1999 by Nziramasanga found that many children in rural and poor communities did not have access to early childhood services. Most of primary schools did not have developed infrastructure to cater for ECD pupils’ enrolment when the government Of Zimbabwe proclaimed that all schools must have an ECD facility. According to UNICEF (2010), more than half of schools in developing countries lack access to safe drinking water and two thirds lack access to sanitation facilities. This militates against learning and child development as adequate and safe water supply and sanitation provisions are imperative to the general health and well-being of pupils. Zvishavane District has only 60% of households accessing portable water and only 52% have latrines (some still poorly ventilated), (MoE, 2012). These statistics points to potential dangers to school going ECD children while both at school and at home and could indicate even worse situation in the schools because the community as key stakeholders in the development of facilities in schools maybe seen not to prioritize WASH.
Objectives
• To assess the impact of integrating the ECD in primary schools to WASH facilities.
• To explore the availability of school WASH facilities for the ECD learners in Zvishavane district
• To explore the accessibility of School WASH facilities for the ECD learners in Zvishavane District in addressing challenges in School WASH programs
Methods and Materials
The research used case study research design and adopted a qualitative research strategy to investigate the current status of water supply and the sanitation in primary schools in Zvishavane District and to suggest possible solutions to WASH challenges in rural primary schools.
Sampling
Study conducted in Zvishavane District with a focus on primary schools in wards 30. A non-probability sampling technique was used to select the sample of participants. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select teachers, school heads and female learners to participate in the study from the four wards in Zvishavane.
Data Collection Techniques
Focus Group Discussions
Four focus group discussions were conducted with a total of approximately 32 to 40 pupils. Each FGD had about 8 – 10 participants, participants either being approached directly by researcher with the school authorities assistance or take the consent forms home to be completed by the guardian/parent and a convenient sampling method was used to select participants from the community based on their interest and willingness to participate in the study. This method helped researcher to explore research problem in greater depth, while providing consensus and diversity in participants’ knowledge, experiences and perceptions that cannot necessarily be elicited from individual interviews.
Key Informant Interviews
Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and school heads as Key Informants. These key informants were purposively selected for face to face in-depth interviews and referrals for specific teachers at each school were made by the school head.
Results Analysis and Discussion
Toilet space allocation
In 67% of the schools, the pupil to squat-hole ratio exceeded the recommended standard of 25 pupils to a squat hole. The ratio of pupils to a squat-hole/seat for girls ranged from 1 to 30 girls per squat-hole, with an average of 27 girls per squat hole. For boys the ratio of a male pupil to a squat-hole/seat was found to be at an average of 27 boys per squat-hole and at all the schools, there were no toilet facilities that were age appropriate. High ratio can lead to overuse of sanitation facilities making it difficult for them to be kept clean which has a bearing on the health and safety of the users. The facilities are also likely to fill up faster than their designated design life of 15 years forcing schools to incur costs in either de-sludging the septic tanks or constructing new ones due to insurmountable jamming. This effect has more negative impacts on the girl child than the boy child as the girl child requires more privacy. To some schools where the ratios are very high, some pupils are being forced to do open defecation and this has a consequence of forcing students to not relieve themselves in fear of being humiliated and without relieving yourself focus and attention in class is reduced and is only fidgeting. In most of the schools the ECD students do share toilets facilities with the upper grades and due to under staffing within schools, teachers cannot monitor the cleanliness of the toilets.
Toilet cleaning in 70% of the schools was just once a day and irregular in 30% of the schools and the cleaning was being done by the students. None of the schools had shower facilities for the girls.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Schools in Zvishavane have large enrolments and a huge deficit in sanitary facilities. There is a challenge in the provision of anal cleansing material and sanitary ware in the schools. While it is appreciated the School Development Committees are under immense financial pressure, the issue of procuring anal cleansing material for use by pupils needs to be attended to urgently. The lack of proper anal cleansing materials can force pupils to use small pieces of paper and during the process can lead to their hands getting soiled. There is need of ‘stand-alone’ curricula for WASH and reproductive health. The researcher recommends for a comprehensive and well planned advocacy campaign to be launched bringing plight of the schools in Zvishavane District to the attention of the authorities and other stakeholders. Each school should have its own source of water and sharing of water resources should be avoided to prevent problems with operation and maintenance of water resources.
An Analysis of Gender Policies In Water Supply And Sanitation Sector In Zimbabwe.
This project was funded under the Water Research Fund for Southern Africa seeking to contribute towards improving the welfare of poor rural and urban households through gender mainstreaming at all levels in water and sanitation sector by analysing gender policies at the international, national, organisational, community and project levels. The purpose of the legal framework was to transform policy intentions into legally binding and enforceable clauses.
A survey conducted revealed the following:
• International organisations including United Nations and donor agencies had made significant progress in mainstreaming gender in their policies and practices.
• At the national level, Zimbabwe had made significant progress in translating international gender policies into national policies. The government set national machinery in the form of Gender Issues Unit in the Ministry of National Affairs Employment Creation and Cooperatives and the Department of Gender Issues in the Office of the President and Cabinet to spearhead the incorporation of gender issues in development.
• At institutional level, gender was not being given enough attention. Government departments, which were involved in the water and sanitation sector, did not have gender mainstreaming policies. The National Action Committee, which coordinated rural water and sanitation programmes, did not itself have a gender mainstreaming policy.
Project findings revealed that although women had been recognized as the primary actors and managers in activities related to water supply and sanitation, gender aspects were often overlooked in policy making, technology design and project implementation.
The project saw the birth or promotion of a number of approaches that included the demand responsive and gender sensitive approaches and it also developed tools that could be used to address gender issues (especially strategic gender needs) at project and policy levels, especially in view of the fact that similar projects had focused on addressing practical as opposed to strategic gender needs.
Investigating the application of constructed wetlands in septic tank systems built on clay soils. A case study of Clydesdale Park, Gweru.
The study is an assessment of the behaviour of clay soil where septic tanks are built on, to evaluate the hydraulic performance of a septic tank system with a constructed wetland and to evaluate an economic feasibility of constructed wetlands in septic tank system built on clay soil. As a result, due to low drainage of clay soils, wastewater does not drain easily in the clay soil matrix. This is undesirable as it exposes the community to waterborne diseases. The study therefore investigated the applicability of constructed wetlands in septic tank systems built on clay soils. The scope behind the study was to see if planting wetland vegetation on the soak away area can assist to dispose of the excessive wastewater through plants’ high evapo-transpiration rates. The results showed that wetland vegetation plants such as common reeds (Phragmites australis) and cattails (Typha latifolia, C) had up to 70% rate of evapo-transpiration. This rate of transpiration can dispose safely wastewater flow from households. Furthermore, this wetland vegetation can serve as a habitat for animals like birds, frogs, and can act as a local “green space”. With this practicability, this wetland vegetation can effectively solve wastewater disposal challenges faced in septic tanks built in problematic soils of poor drainage. Since the septic tank systems constructed on wetland vegetation principle rely on evapo-transpiration, they require a larger surface area on which the vegetation will be planted.
According to the design of the study, wetland vegetation coverage of twenty two square metres can suffice the efficient operation of this system which can be provided in two wetland soak ways of eleven square metres. The results showed that septic tanks constructed on the principle of wetland vegetation are slightly expensive but economically comparable to the conventional ones of soak ways. The study recommends for the practical construction and setup of this wetland vegetation to further establish its applicability.
Materials and Methodology
Literature survey was carried out on municipal by-laws and policies to determine the spaces and distances required for the positioning of the modified septic tank system from boundaries of the stand and the house. The size and surface area of the constructed wetland and the soak away were obtained from modelling the designs of the two systems. Plants commonly used in wetlands were found in literature. The desired system did not have open water bodies. The area to be covered by the constructed wetland was calculated against that of a soak away to determine if the system is feasible at a low-density stand. The plants were elected according to their adaptability for growth under partial conditions. The choice of the type of constructed wetland is dependent on human health and environmental protection for the system. Sub-surface wastewater flow was used to avoid breeding spaces for disease causing organisms and unpleasant odours. The data of the wastewater produced from each household per day was obtained by considering the water demand of the household. The daily water demand was multiplied by the percentage (50%), to get the wastewater generated. A price survey on capital costs of constructing a soak way and a constructed wetland were carried out. The data of the space area and retention time were obtained from the modelling of the modified system. The operation and maintenance costs were determined by costs of equipment, power, labour and spare parts.
Results and Analysis
From the study the common reed plant and cattails had up to 70% rate of evapotranspiration. Common reeds and cattails also are aesthetically pleasing and add greenery to a built-up area. They serve as a habitat for animals such as birds and frogs, and also act as a green space within. The plants are commonly used due to their climatic tolerance and rapid growth. Subsurface flow constructed wetlands can even be walked on and they avoids mosquito and odour problems. From literature the design water demand per stand is 1800litres per day, BOD5 per user is 333mg/l, low-density capita per house size is 6 people as according to the design approach to water and sewerage relative to urban and rural communities in Zimbabwe manual. In Gweru,
• On average, the warmest months are January, October and November
• On average the coolest month is July
• December is the wettest month
• August is the driest month
The economic feasibility evaluation of constructing a modified septic tank system was done based on the cost of capital of building the system. To achieve this as a comparison of the original and modified septic tank system costs was done by the use of bill of quantities. There is significant difference between estimated project costs of the constructed wetland as compared with the soak way indicating how economic it is to use constructed wetland as a disposal system on onsite sanitation.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Constructed wetlands are environmentally friendly and feasible. The replacement of a soak way with a constructed wetland as a disposal unit proved to be feasible with constructed wetland disposing of through evapo-transpiration. Constructing two wetlands in series increases the evapo-transpiration hence enhancing the disposal capacity of the constructed wetland. A cost-benefit analyses between the two systems showed that constructed wetlands requires an additional amount of money on top of that of the soak away although constructed wetland is more beneficial in areas where clay soil exists. This solution of replacing soak away with constructed wetlands can be applied when the soil in the area of interest is clay. The researcher recommended for a full economic evaluation of constructed wetland to be performed which include operation and maintenance costs.
