Solid Waste Disposal

Table 8.15 presents different methods of solid waste disposal by households. The commonest method of disposal of solid waste is dumping in a public dump (open space). The proportion for this method of solid waste disposal is 40.1 percent. This is followed by dumping into containers (34.8%). Burning is used by 10.0 percent. It is uncommon for solid waste to be collected from households as only 4.1 percent of the households in the Municipality use this service.

In the urban localities, the commonest method of disposal of solid waste is dumping in public containers (46.2%). This is followed by dumping in public dumping sites (31.4%). The least proportion goes for household that dump indiscriminately (3.1%). In rural localities, more than half (60.4%) of households dump solid waste in public dumping sites. Those that burn solid waste constitute 12.0 percent. As high as 11.7 percent of households dump solid waste indiscriminately.

Liquid Waste Disposal

The various methods by which liquid waste is disposed by households in the Municipality is presented in table 8.16. The majority of households (36.6%) in the Municipality dispose liquid waste by throwing onto the street/outside. This is closely followed by throwing onto compound (35.7%). Throwing into gutter has a proportion of 17.3 percent and disposal through drainage into a pit (soak away) has the least proportion (1.3%).

In urban localities, the majority (36.2%) of households dispose liquid waste by throwing onto the street/outside. Throwing onto compound is used by 31.6 percent of households and a little over twenty percent (21.2%) of households dispose liquid by throwing into gutter. Disposal through drainage into a pit (soak away) has the least proportion (1.0%).

For the rural localities, 45.4 percent of households throw liquid waste onto compound. This is higher than the proportion for urban localities (31.6%). About thirty eight percent (37.5%) of households in rural localities throw liquid waste onto the street/outside. This is more than the urban proportion (36.2%) albeit the small margin. Disposing liquid waste through the sewerage system is not common in the rural localities at all, as it has a proportion less than one percent (0.5%).