Urban sanitation and wastewater treatment in Addis Ababa in the Awash Basin, Ethiopia

Improvement of sanitation facilities and subsequent practices is considered to contribute to overall human development with far reaching benefits for the welfare of people. It can reduce wastewater flows when treatment capacities are upgraded, but it can also create a higher load of wastewater flowing into the environment downstream. Additional sanitary water requirements in a water scarce city may be difficult to meet. In this paper we explore the scale of impact of improving sanitation in Addis Ababa in terms of water quality and quantity of water flows in and out of the city. Conventional approaches to sanitary improvement at the city level, like extension of the sewage coverage and upgrading of wastewater treatment capacities will require additional water in a city that is already water scarce. Also, it will change the characteristics of irrigation water that is used by farmers in and around the city.