Consultant: Resource Recovery Operation Support at International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Ghana lacks sufficient safe and hygienic sanitation facilities. Many cities in Ghana lack functional sewer systems. Municipal wastewater and fecal sludge treatment plants, if they exist, are barely functioning. As a result, less than 10,000 m3/d of wastewater is being treated for the entire country while wastewater generation, which was about 760,000 m3/d in 2000, is now estimated to exceed 1,000,000 m3/d. In cities, a large proportion of black water is disposed of in septic tanks while grey water is released it into street drains, often accompanied by excreta. Collected fecal sludge is occasionally treated, but mostly dumped in the environment, waterways or on land.

Given the forgoing challenges, the project, CapVal, proposes three-resource recovery and reuse solutions that have a high potential to incentivize local sanitation planning and management in Ghana, reduce waste transport costs, support the lifetime of landfills, and reduce environmental impacts through the establishment of co-composting, briquette and wastewater-fed aquaculture businesses in two regions of Ghana.

• The compost facilitywill annually transform 5000 m3 fecal sludge and 300 tonnes of organic solid wastes into 200 tons of safe compost.
• The briquette component will convert organic solid waste into low-cost fuel (briquettes) for use by households and institutions. The 1,000 tonnes/year briquette plant and the compost facilities will be sited in Somanya in the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly (YKMA).
• Our third intervention is in wastewater-fed aquaculture based on studies by IWMI and partners on the potential for the production of African catfish in well-treated wastewater. CapValproposes to validate thisbusiness case with a proofof concept at the Chirapatrewastewater treatment plantin Kumasi, in collaborationwith the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA). Proceeds from the business will be fed back into the maintenance of the treatment plant.


 

All three interventions will be supported by appropriate capacity development of the private and public sectors.

Responsibilities And Deliverables

Following the construction of a plant in Somanya, which intends to produce composts and non-carbonized briquettes from locally available wastes (food waste, rice husks, sawdust, market wastes, mango wastes, etc.), the consultant will be supervising the test launch of the operation of the facility.

The consultant will

• Test run different parts of the plant (fecal sludge dewatering, water treatment, composting, briquette production) to optimize the processes
• Manage the treatment and production plant, to ensure quality products are manufactured, treatment performance for wastes is satisfactory and plant capacity is attained
• Produce scientific reports on the research activities undertaken
• Set-up a demonstration site for the produced compost
• Any other related activities related to the plant operation and assigned by a supervisor

Qualifications
Essential

• MSc or MPhil in environmental science, civil engineering, process engineering or any related field

Essential
Knowledge & Experience

• A minimum of two years’ experience as plant manager for a plant producing compost or briquettes
• Experience with fecal sludge handling and processing
• Experience in writing technical reports
• Experience in training staff
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Proficiency in MS Office applications

Desirable

• Experience in use of compost in agriculture
• Good understanding of issues surrounding soil fertility management
• Experience in resource recovery and reuse

Skills & Abilities
Essential

• Fluency in oral and written English
• Knowledge of at least one local language in use in Eastern region (e.g. Krobo, Ewe, Twi).
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural research environment
• Proven ability to plan and organize own work, manage conflicting priorities and work under pressure
• Ability and willingness to spend time in the field

Desirable

• Ability to engage and train other personnel