Ekona Stream turns reservoir for human faeces

Uncontrolled deposits of human faeces in a stream in Ekona and Fako Division poses a potentially serious threat to aquatic organisms and human health.

Some inhabitants in Quarter 2B, Ekona Las Town, have been noted to persistently pollute a nearby stream popularly known as Lamba with their faeces, The Green Vision has learnt.

Some elites in the neighbourhood said it is the young men who usually defecate in the stream in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes in the afternoon or late in the evening.

When The Green Vision caught with some polluting the stream in question, they claimed that they don't have toilets in their yards or access to any in the neighbourhood.

Others said they prefer to defecate in the stream so that they can immediately take their bath.

While the youngsters use the stream as a toilet as well as a bathroom, some inhabitants of Las Town fetch water from the same stream to drink, cook and bathe.

Ironically, even those who have good tap water in their compounds still fetch water from the faeces-ridden stream.

"We still prefer to use both water sources," said an inhabitant.

The human waste is known to contaminate water and spread disease. It also leads to environmental degradation in many ways.

Increased organic matter from the faeces is broken down by aerobic bacteria in the stream and this reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water body as the decomposition process uses up the available dissolved oxygen.

Fish and other aquatic life that need dissolved oxygen in the water die. This reduces the number of fish in the stream. Also, contaminants present in the faeces might be toxic for some already existing phytoplankton. More so, it increases the levels of nutrients, adding the bioavailability of nutrients, which can increase productivity of plankton near the waste outfall and increase the chance of algal blooms. This increases the turbidity and amount of suspended sediments in water. This effect reduces light available for plant growth and damage fish gills and respiratory structures of other species.

On the other hand, this human waste adversely poses a health hazard to inhabitants who depend on this water source for domestic use. The results of depositing such human waste include the contamination of water with pathogens (disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and other organisms) which contaminate drinking water.

A common example of a health hazard caused by the consumption of faeces-polluted water is cholera caused by the bacteria vibrocholera.

Blue baby syndrome is a disease that affects mostly infants. This disease is caused by the consumption of water which has been contaminated by algal blooms.

Viral diseases such as yellow fever are also contracted from the consumption of sewage-polluted water. Moreover, dysentery and diarrhoea are bacterial diseases contracted from the consumption of such water.

Last but not the least this human waste produces odours that make the human environment uncomfortable. This, therefore, calls for the inhabitants, especially defaulters, to shun this practice as a necessity in conserving water ecosystems and protecting human health.