Experts in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in Bauchi State have urged the state government to establish a fecal sludge treatment plant to boost food security, Sanitation and reduce environmental pollution in the state.
They made the call at the validation workshop for WASH policy assessment for Bauchi State organized by the States government and Wateraid Nigeria on Wednesday in Bauchi.
Mr Adamu Ali, Director Water Supply in the State Ministry of Water Resources said a fecal sludge treatment plant would improve the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge in the state.
The use of treated fecal sludge-based fertilizer can be a good solution for food security in the state and the country at large, it can also improve soil quality and reduce environmental pollution.
“Furthermore, waste-based fertilizer could allow poor farmers a possibility to save money, since mineral fertilizers have high prices.
“Fecal sludge-based fertilizer could be commercialized as it has been successfully done in some countries, farmers are willing to pay a reasonable price for these fertilizers, and they can then sell their yields,” he said.
The Director also explained that gaps identified at the validation assessment for sanitation policy would be rectified for the domestication of the African Sanitation Policy Guidelines (ASPG) in the State.
On his part, Mr David Ayodele, Chairman WASH Media Network Bauchi stressed that recycling of organic matter is essential for maintaining and improving soil fertility and soil quality to increase agricultural yield.
The combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer has shown to improve the productivity of maize and cabbage compared to either the use of organic or mineral fertilizer only.
Also speaking, Mr Kichime Bawa, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) consultant with Wateraid said the sanitation system deals with human feces and urine from the time it’s generated until it’s used and disposed of in a safe manner.
“To cut down the environmental and health risks, the fourth component of a non-sewered sanitation system fixes treating fecal sludge.
“A lack of efficient treatment options is why fecal sludge is dumped into the environment. This reduces the pros of having on-site sanitation features,” he said.
Bawa added that the level of treatment will rely on the final objective for the fecal sludge.
“A fecal sludge treatment plant can reduce the pathogens to a safe level. Or it can turn fecal sludge into a useful product with environmental and economic benefits.
“The treatment plant helps deal with and reduce the bad impacts of fecal sludge. It also helps in increasing the potential positive impacts.
