CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 1.0

Background

With the increasing population and increasing per capita water demands, certain areas will soon face the problem of needing more water than can be obtained from local water supplies. This projected water deficit has instigated an interest in water reclamation and reuse, using treated waste waters as a public water supply source. Ghana is no exception to the countries around the world, experiencing high volumes of wastewater that flows out without reclaiming them for use. The high population growth, high urbanization rate, progress in sanitation facilities, economic development and all other activities call for more water. Agbozo et al., 2003, in their work revealed that the total amount of grey and black water produced in urban Ghana is estimated to be approximately 280 million m3 . This quantity of wastewater is mainly from domestic sources since most wastewater from industry is channeled into the ocean. It is estimated that the city accommodates between 2.5 million to 3 million people in terms of socio-economic activities aside the residential dimension. According to the Ghana Statistical Services report on the 2010 population and housing census, the population of Accra is 3,963,264 (Ghana statistical Service, 2012). The city is today one of the most populated and fast growing Metropolis of Africa with an annual growth rate of 3.36%. It was estimated that urban wastewater generation in Ghana will increase from 530,346 m 3 /day in 2000 to 1,452,383 m3 /day in 2020 (36% in 2000 to over 45% in 2020) (Agbozo et al., 2003).