Appraisal of Reticulation and Largescale Reuse of Treated Municipal Wastewater for Nonportable Purposes in FCT, Abuja Nigeria.

Abstract

Municipal wastewater can be treated and reused for several purposes. This measure does not only reduce pollution, but relieves pressure on fresh waters. This study was carried out to determine treated municipal wastewater reuse schemes in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. The study involved interviews and questionnaire administration (30 and 492 respondents respectively). The results show that treated municipal wastewater is only used for generator cooling and watering of lawn within the wastewater treatment facility. Before the installation of water boreholes to supply drinking water for Jidu Village in 2010, the treated wastewater which is discharged into Wupa River was used for washing, bathing, swimming amongst other purposes by villagers who make use of the river where the wastewater is discharged into. The result has shown that no planned large-scale reuse arrangement of the treated wastewater exists in the study area. This can be attributed to lack of infrastructure and arrangement for industrial or agricultural reuse of the treated wastewater. In addition, the result also revealed that fear of billing for reuse and psychological reasons could hinder the use of treated wastewater. Following the schematic model as proposed, the study recommends that the treated wastewater should be reused for agricultural and industrial purposes after political, health/environment, social/economic, and technological considerations as outlined by the proposed schematic.