TAMALE POLYTECHNIC

BUILDING TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

BUILDING SERVICES II

ASSINGMENT 1
BUT:

DATE: 14/03/2012 MATRIC NO: 08100866 NAME: KORANG KWABENA

Q1. REFUSE GENERATION CONTAINMENT AND DISPOSAL HAS IN RECENT TIMES CREATED A BIG CHALLENGED ITS MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY, EXPECIALLY THOSE OF THE URBAN AREAS. EXPALIAN THREE NAGATIVE IMPACTS THAT THE IMPROPER MANAGEMENT OF THESE REFUSE HAS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE MITIGATING MESASURE THAT WILL BE OF HELP TO THE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal, managing and monitoring of waste materials. Waste is unavoidable in any society, but now we produce more waste than ever before. The Age of Convenience is also the Age of Waste. Around the world, modern civilization has been stuffing its refuse into abandoned mines, canyons and even dumping it in the oceans. Some of it is being incinerated, releasing poisonous gases into the air. This problem is worse in the industrialized countries of the North than in the South, but with the spread of technology, industrialization and accompanying standards of living, the garbage factor is an unwelcome and often unnoticed side effect of "development." Growing Heaps of Garbage in the Cities By the year 2000, it is estimated that half of the world's 6.3 billion people will be living in cities. Over two billion are expected to reside in the metropolises of developing countries. In its 1991 report, The Challenge of the Environment, the United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP) estimated that 720 billion tons of world urban wastes are produced annually, of which 440 billion tons-more than halfare generated by developed countries. "The problem in both industrialized and developing countries is twofold," the report declared. "People often are too wasteful in their production and consumption, and then pay too little attention to proper disposal of refuse." Rapidly multiplying urban households also generate far more solid waste than local authorities can handle. According to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), only between 25 and 55 per cent of all waste generated in large cities is collected by municipal authorities. Up to 95 per cent of the refuse is thrown into

open dumps, which can render land unusable and endanger human health. Management of wastes is a formidable challenge facing governments around the world. How to dispose of refuse economically and without degrading the environment is a problem shared by developed and developing countries alike. A lack of sufficient resources, however, severely limits the range of options open to cities in the developing world, where the disposal of solid wastes created by households and industries often consumes up to half of municipal budgets. Many have yet to install sewage and wastewater treatment plants. Waste can have far-reaching and sometimes long-term and irreversible consequences for human health and the environment. Thus, its disposal and management must become a critical feature in future urban planning in developing countries. The volume of wastes created must also be reduced if the problem is to be solved.

PUBLIC NUISANCE IMPACTS

Clogged sewers of open drains, encroachment on roadsways,demises of landscape aesthetis,unpleasant odors and irritating dust,heaps of refuse dumps,resulting uncontrolled solid waste management,can seriously create public nuisance like listed below:

Impact on Human Health

o Many pollutants have a negative impact on human health. For example, pollutants in the air, such as ozone or particulates in the air, may lead to respiratory health problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. Drinking contaminated water may lead to stomach and other digestive

problems. Pollutants such as mercury can accumulate in fish and seafood and can lead to serious health problems, especially for vulnerable populations such as children or pregnant women. Pollutants in the soil, such as contamination by heavy metals, toxins or lead, can lead to serious health problems, including cancer and developmental problems in children. Impact on Air o One of the most common sources of air pollution results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as vehicle and factory emissions. These emissions are a major contributor to smog, a mass of particulate matter than hangs like a cloud over many major cities and industrial areas. A second effect of air pollution is acid rain, which forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the air combine with oxygen, water and other chemicals in the air. This combination decreases the pH of rainwater, which is typically pH neutral. Acid rain can lead to the death of trees, fish kills in lakes and damage to statues, monuments and building faces. Impact on Water o Water pollution may result from run-off from places such as agricultural fields, construction sites or factories; oil spills; sewage spills; and the accumulation of trash. Water pollution has a deleterious effect on the native plant and animal species that call bodies of water home. Run-off from agricultural fields can lead to algal blooms which choke out other plants and decrease the amount of available oxygen for species of fish and other organisms. Chemicals in the water can affect animal development, leading to deformities, such as extra legs in frogs. Oil spills kill

native species of animals including waterfowl and mammal species. Sewage overflow can contaminate sources of human drinking water, leading to serious health problems, as mentioned above. The accumulation of trash in bodies of water may also lead to animal deaths resulting from becoming tangled in plastic items such as plastic bags, fishing wire and other debris. Impact on Land o Pollutants in the soil most often result from industrial sources. Particularly insidious soil pollutants include lead, PCBs and asbestos. These pollutants may negatively affect human health and native plant and animal health. Pesticide use can also impact the land. One undesired impact of using pesticides is the death of native plant and animal species that also reside in the area. Impact on Ecosystems o Because each type of pollution (air, water, land) does not occur separately from one another, entire ecosystems are often impacted. For example, the use of pesticides or fertilizers on land may negatively impact terrestrial species of plants and animals. When these materials are introduced to nearby bodies of water, they impact aquatic species of plants and animals. Thus, curbing pollution in one area of an ecosystem can also help protect another part of the ecosystem.

PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS

This has to do with the inadequate containment and disposal of generated wastes especially in the urban settlements. This may lead to unhealthy living and working environment. Public health can also be affected when solid waste is inadequately disposed within an open dump. In an open dump, there is ready access to the waste by domestic animals and,subsequantly,potencial spread of diseases and chemical containment through the food chain. From an open dump, windblown dust may carry pathogens and hazardous materials. Smoke generated from burning waste at open dump is a significant respiratory irritant and can cause affected population to have a much increased susceptibility to respiratory illness and create other serious illness like Skin Disorders Fungal infection, allergic dermatitis, pruritis and skin cancer Respiratory Abnormalities bacterial upper respiratory tract infections (pharyngitis, laryngitis and rhinitis), chronic bronchitis and asthma Abdominal and Intestinal Problems bacterial enteritis, helminthiasis, amoebiasis, liver cancer, kidney and renal failure Dental Disorders dental carries and dental pain Ear Infections otitis media and bacterial infections Skeletal Muscular Systems back pain Central Nervous System impairment of neurological development, peripheral nerve damage and headaches Eye Infections allergic conjunctivitis, bacterial eye infections Blood Disorders Iron deficiency anaemia Others malaria, chicken pox, septic wounds and congenital abnormalities, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer

DIRECT IMPACTS
Environmental damages from solid waste disposal typical include contamination of groundwater, surface water and air quality. For example, seepage from solid waste contains fine particulate and microorganisms which can be filtered by soil matrices. And under favorable hydrologic conditions, contaminated seepage from solid waste can pass through the unsaturated soil beneath the solid waste deposit and enter ground water sources and thus destroy the ground water quality. Surface water can be contaminated as pollute ground water discharges into it, or by surface runoff directly from solid waste desposits.Source of air quality degradation includes smoke from open dump burning,dust from inadequate containment,collection,open dumping and gases generated by decomposition or sanitary landfill.

MITIGATING MEASURES
In order to maintain a healthy environment for safe living and working condition, the following mitigating measures may help in the handling and disposal of household, commercial and industrial especially in the urban area. 1.Provide complete and regular refuse collection service to the urban environment to encourage peoples attitudes towards refuse containment and disposal 2. Educate residents to discharge refuse just before the schedule time of collection service to ensure effective collection

3.Provide covers to refuse containers so that rain does not add weight to the refuse as well as those on transit. 4. Provide public education to obtain public cooperation with environmental regulation about littering and clandestine dumping of refuse 5. Provide adequate collection and disposal service to every house hold at monthly collection fee 6. Organize Regular Street sweeping or cleaning of roadways and lorry parks 7. Increase inspection and supervision to obtain improved productivity and effectiveness by collection workers 8. Provide special facilities for receipt of potentially hazardous waste as well as providing incentives to private sector recycling initiatives. 9. Modify procurement specifications to increase opportunities for products made from recycled materials. 10. Provide incentives to private sector entrepreneurial initiatives recovering secondary materials or recycling. 11. Provide public education which encourages recycling 12. Intensify public education programs about environmental cleanness to encourage a positive attitude regarding the immediate environment in general 13. Apply polluter pay measure to reduce clandestine dumping of refuse by residents or reduce indiscriminate disposal levels.