Wastewater and Solid Waste Disposal Patterns of Dukem Town Households in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The objective of this descriptive; cross-sectional study was to assess wastewater and solid waste management by the households of Dukem; a town in Ethiopia. A total of 391 households were selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Face-to-face interviews were carried out with respondents by asking questions about wastewater and solid waste management in the households. A majority (75.1) of households used unsafe wastewater disposal methods. Approximately two thirds (67.7) of households had a temporary storage container in their compound in which to store solid waste. 53.3 of households used a safe solid waste disposal method. Only 4.9 of the households used waste as manure (compost) for home gardening. More than a quarter (28.1) of households practised burning waste on their premises. The availability of safe wastewater disposal facilities was significantly associated with private home ownership and family size (p-value 0.05). There was no significant association between the availability of safe solid waste disposal facilities and owning a private home or family size (p-value 0.05). Generally; there were inadequate domestic wastewater and solid waste disposal facilities in the studied households. Thus; there is a need for improved waste management in the households. Environmental health and health education programmes should be emphasised in order to improve practices of household waste management