Septic tank poisoning

...WARMA rules

By Staff Writers 

There is a need to fill identified gaps in the enforcements of water Resources Management act among other regulations to stop the indiscriminate building and digging septic tanks close to water sources such as boreholes.

Despite the law and regulations being elaborate on specifications on the distance between water sources like boreholes, the trend of building septic tanks close to water sources continues.

Section 99 of the Water resources Management Act requires anyone drilling a borehole to immediately notify water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) or a catchment manager in writing, giving the location and elaborate details of the envisaged borehole.

This looks water tight on paper and upon perusal but interviews with an expert as well as borehole owners reveals that serious regulatory and enforcement gaps exist.

For instance, if a driller or land occupier notifies WARMA on a borehole record, specifications, or data should be treated as confidential communication.

WARMA is barred from publishing or sharing an applicant's information with third parties unless consent is given which is a source of concern in terms of promoting transparency and accountability.

From the Act point of view ,violating confidentiality carries penalties, and any person or public officer unlawfully releasing protected borehole information faces a fine of up to 50,000 penalty units —

equivalent to K20,000 under current rates.

The alluded to law helps the government track groundwater use and prevent over-extraction, especially as demand rises in Lusaka, Copperbelt, and drought-prone areas.

Alas! These efforts seem not to be acting as deterrents due to a number of factors as identified by experts as underground continued being contaminated indiscriminately.

At the same time, established regulations reassure farmers, mines, and homeowners that commercial or geological data from private boreholes won’t be automatically made public without appropriate consent from right holders.

Environmentalist Jacob Musosha has called for improved town planning to avoid the current scenario whereby building and digging septic tanks close to water sources such as boreholes.

"Everything is haphazard, the ticking time bomb has already exploded because we have neglected town

planning," Mr. Musosha observed.

Musosha noted that while WARMA mandates a minimum distance of 30 meters between a borehole and any potential source of contamination,

such as a septic tank or soak away, the opposite has been happening.

Musosha stated groundwater, more especially high-density residential areas where both systems are commonly used on the same plot, are highly contaminated.

Musosha cited recent studies which showed that areas like Kitwe West on the Copperbelt Province and Lusaka like St. Bonaventure show high percentage of boreholes of up

to 90 percent in some studied areas are contaminated with faecal coliforms, leaving the water unsafe for drinking.

This is due to close proximity to septic systems, which Musosha said called for a paradigm shift to revisit town planning and enforce WARMA and Zambia Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA) regulations.

But WARMA Senior Public Relations and Communications Officer, Smart Kalaluka maintained in an interview that thorough check before granting water permits are done.

"Pre-inspectations are done before granting water permits for different usages,the Act if followed to the later," Mr. Kalakuka stated.

He said WARMA is committed to emsure that all water permit holders protect the environment.

However, interviews with borehole owners, reviewed gaps inregulations and enforcements of the distance between boreholes and septic tanks.

Brian Mulenga, a resident of Kwacha East Township in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, confirmed

the absence of inspections by WARMA or ZEMA assessments.

Mr Mulenga confessed that he has never seen anyone from WARMA or ZEMA after drilling a borehole.

He says people just indiscriminately drill boreholes whenever they have money, as no one comes to check compliance to WARMA specified regulations.

"Even when there are complaints, nothing changes. Now some wells that we used to rely on are drying

up, and we don’t know who to report to. It just feels like there’s no control, " complains Mulenga.

Ruth Tembo, a resident of Kwacha East Township in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province also added her voice.

Through services by Nkana Water, during a disruption, Ms Tembo narrated that residents resort to individually sunk boreholes.

She cited the lack of scheduled checks as a contributing factor to unregulated boreholes and water tank installations placed next to septic tanks.

From the investigation, most boreholes and septic tanks are sunk without following the requirements of the Water Resources Management Act and that of ZEMA .

Continental Leadership Research Institute (CLRI), Zambia Environmental Journalists Network (ZEJN)

Josephine Phiri Freelance, Lydia Makina - CGTN Reporter, Alain Kabinda - Daily News, Melody Mubita- A student at UNZA/Freelance, Kennedy Mupeseni -Times of Zambia, Derrick Sinjela Kwilanzi

Newspaper Zambia (KNZ).