NWSC to produce power from sewage
Sep 09, 2011
NATIONAL Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC) will soon start producing electricity from sewage.
By Josephine Maseruka
NATIONAL Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC) will soon start producing electricity from sewage.
The project will start at the Nakivubo sewage plant, which handles 45,000 cubic metres of sewage per day.
Phiona Wall, the corporation’s spokesperson, yesterday said the technology to be used will be able to capture methane – a gas which causes the stench at sewage plants.
“We will capture methane gas and convert it to bio-gas to produce electricity, which will run the plant. The excess will be connected to the national grid,†she explained.
To control sewage bursts in the city, the corporation has started constructing sewage plants at Lubigi, Kinawataka and Nakivubo.
The 82m euros (about sh332b) project is funded by the European Union, the Germany Development Agency, the African Development Bank and the Uganda Government.
MPs on the natural resources committee recently expressed concern over the stench in the city due to sewage bursts.
The Lubigi sewage treatment plant in Kawempe division, which has been resisted by residents and local leaders, will handle 5,400 cubic metres of sewage per day. When completed, it will raise the sewage coverage in Kampala to 33%, up from 7%.
Although residents are blaming the increasing floods on the sewage plant, Wall refuted the claims, arguing: “We are not destroying the wetland. We need it as a filter.â€
“The plants will not have structures as most people think. We shall put there ponds, which will not harm the environment. The Kinawataka plant will handle 8,000 cubic metres of sewage,†she said.
Wall said although the Bugolobi sewage treatment plant constructed in 1940 has a capacity of 33,000 cubic metres per day, it only handles 17,000 per day.
“The under utilisation is due to the limited piped connections and obsolete and very old pipes, making the sewage system insufficient,†she explained.
According to NWSC officials, their biggest problem is rubbish disposal, especially in markets, taxi parks and crowded areas such as slums.
Kiyembe in the city centre has been identified as a problematic area. Tailors dump textile cuttings in the sewage line, causing frequent sewage bursts around the Old Taxi Park.
Urbanisation has also affected the dilapidated sewage pipeline, which was initially to serve about 500,000 people.
Encroaching on the NWSC property is also blamed for the sewage bursts, especially in Katanga, a Kampala suburb near Wandegeya, where most students’ hostels have been built on sewer lines.
NATIONAL Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC) will soon start producing electricity from sewage.
The project will start at the Nakivubo sewage plant, which handles 45,000 cubic metres of sewage per day.
Phiona Wall, the corporation’s spokesperson, yesterday said the technology to be used will be able to capture methane – a gas which causes the stench at sewage plants.
“We will capture methane gas and convert it to bio-gas to produce electricity, which will run the plant. The excess will be connected to the national grid,†she explained.
To control sewage bursts in the city, the corporation has started constructing sewage plants at Lubigi, Kinawataka and Nakivubo.
The 82m euros (about sh332b) project is funded by the European Union, the Germany Development Agency, the African Development Bank and the Uganda Government.
MPs on the natural resources committee recently expressed concern over the stench in the city due to sewage bursts.
The Lubigi sewage treatment plant in Kawempe division, which has been resisted by residents and local leaders, will handle 5,400 cubic metres of sewage per day. When completed, it will raise the sewage coverage in Kampala to 33%, up from 7%.
Although residents are blaming the increasing floods on the sewage plant, Wall refuted the claims, arguing: “We are not destroying the wetland. We need it as a filter.â€
“The plants will not have structures as most people think. We shall put there ponds, which will not harm the environment. The Kinawataka plant will handle 8,000 cubic metres of sewage,†she said.
Wall said although the Bugolobi sewage treatment plant constructed in 1940 has a capacity of 33,000 cubic metres per day, it only handles 17,000 per day.
“The under utilisation is due to the limited piped connections and obsolete and very old pipes, making the sewage system insufficient,†she explained.
According to NWSC officials, their biggest problem is rubbish disposal, especially in markets, taxi parks and crowded areas such as slums.
Kiyembe in the city centre has been identified as a problematic area. Tailors dump textile cuttings in the sewage line, causing frequent sewage bursts around the Old Taxi Park.
Urbanisation has also affected the dilapidated sewage pipeline, which was initially to serve about 500,000 people.
Encroaching on the NWSC property is also blamed for the sewage bursts, especially in Katanga, a Kampala suburb near Wandegeya, where most students’ hostels have been built on sewer lines.