The Ugandan government has announced the completion of the Bugolobi wastewater treatment plant in Kampala, which is one of the largest in East and Central Africa, with the capacity to treat 45 million litres of human waste per day, according to New Vision.
The plant will also be used to generate at least 630kw of power, the country's National Water and Sewerage Corporation said on 5 February.
"We have also rehabilitated and expanded the Nakivubo and Kinawataka sewers (29 km)," said managing director Silver Mugisha.
He added that a new 9 million litres per day pre-treatment plant and pumping stations have also been commissioned to improve the sanitation situation in Kampala.
The plant is part of the Lake Victoria Protection Project II (LVP II), a component of the first phase of the Kampala Sanitation Programme.
In addition to improving sanitation in Kampala, LVP II aims to find a sustainable solution to the rapidly deteriorating water quality in the inner and outer Murchison Bay of Lake Victoria.
The pollution of the lake by wastewater has reportedly been destabilising its ecological balance.
Construction of the plant was financed by the Government with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the French Development Agency (FDA), the European Union and German development agency Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).
The plant uses harmless technology and bio-filters and is odourless.
According to Mugisha, the plant will serve the needs of more than 350,000 residents and the entire transient population of Kampala city.
To make electricity, the facility's digesters will allow the fermentation of the sludge for the production of biogas, allowing the combustion of this highly purified gas to take place.
Part of the electricity will be used to operate the plant.
The residues from the sludge methanisation process will be distributed as fertiliser to urban farmers.
Major wastewater treatment plant is completed in Uganda
