MCM PLANNING – Sewage Waste Systems in Senegal and Columbus

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  1. Sewage system problems in Senegal

Dakar Senegal has a population of roughly 1 million people. The city is very crowded, and it is impossible to build a proper sewage system because so many houses and buildings have already been placed. One of the ways Senegal is tackling this sewage issue is through hiring trucks that pick up poop from houses and take them to be properly disposed of. Due to the capital City of Senegal lacking proper sewage system infrastructure many residents are forced to dump sewage into the streets or doing other non sanitary acts. Most of the people that dump onto the streets can not afford to hire the trucks to pick up the sewage. Wealthy residents are the main ones that use the truck business but are also straying away from the business because drivers will increase the price knowing the homeowner is wealthy.

In 2011 Bill and Melinda Gates started a 200 million dollar initiative called “Reinvent the toilet challenge” which grants universities around the world with funds to research ways in which a toilet can turn waste into a reusable item or water, a waste processing system which works on its own. Millions of kids each year are killed by pneumonia and diarrhea each year because they are exposed to pathogens from human feces. With the 200 million dollar grants, Universities have come up with a lot of great ideas. One of the most innovative toilet stations invented is a solar powered eco-San system that extracts clean water from human waste and uses that water to re-flush. A small plant was recently placed in Senegal. This plant is self powered and uses human waste to produce clean water, fertilizer and electricity. The plant already has over 100k customers.

One of ways the Senegal government can go about tackling this issue is by building big underground tanks in residential areas that collect human waste. People can dump their waste at these tanks and then the waste be transported to the Omni processor that Bill Gates has provided for the country. Many people of the country can not afford to have the truck drivers transport their waste. Having these big tanks will make it easier on the residents as it is the governments job to keep its citizens safe and the city clean. The cons that might be seen with this approach might be that the city is overcrowded and their isn’t much space to create these big sanitation tanks within neighborhoods. These tanks might also create a bad stench in the neighborhood.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-wants-world-to-move-past-flush-toilets-2018-11

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/sanitation-senegal-competition-poop-pickup-2018-12

 

Columbus Sewage problem

Columbus currently faces the problem of sewer overflows and basement backups commonly caused by heavy rains. This problem causes the affected areas to be engulfed in the smell of sewage as well as affect the water quality of the city. Since 2004, the city of Columbus has been under scrutiny from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the amount of sewage that washes into waterways during heavy rainstorms. This has caused Columbus to set a record portion of their budget to go towards water and sewer protections. As the population of central Ohio grows, so does the urgency of this problem because a larger population means a larger production of waste that has the potential to overflow into the water that feeds the city.

Advocate Style:
The pros of this style is that an advocate planner would listen to the people who are directly affected by this problem and have to deal with basement backups and unsanitary water. Advocate planners often represent less fortunate groups who, more often than not, have to deal with problems such as sewer issues because they can’t afford to live anywhere else. Therefore, advocate planners would be most likely to fight for the change that would assist those who are affected by the sewage overflows in Columbus. Possible cons of this style is that advocate planners might have a hard time creating a plan that benefits and is supported by every person they are avocations for because it is hard to please everyone. Another possible con is that advocacy planners might have difficulty getting large public support for a plan that benefits the lower class population because those who fund projects are often of the upper class.
Radical Style:
The pros of this style is that radical planners use rationality and facts to create the most efficient plan that maximizes achievement. These planners are often experts in the field that they are working in and minimizes the consequences of their plans by using specialized knowledge to make decisions. Possible cons of this style is that radical planners acknowledge that it is impossible to please the entire public so they don’t allow public interests to influence their plans. Marginalizes voices are often ignored in order to create one plan that is efficient but not necessarily beneficial to the entire population.

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