Wastewater management systems o f tourism establishments in the Okavango Delta

Abstract

This study was carried out to establish an inventory of wastewater  management systems in the delta and to evaluate their performance in achieving expected effluent quality standards. The study established that the most common method of wastewater treatment and disposal for permanent lodges/camps in the delta was septic tank with soakaway, constituting 77.5 percent of all wastewater management systems. The study also established that the installed septic tank with soakaway systems do not meet the theoretical efluent quality expected from such systems,nor the national efluent quality for disposal into the environmellf. The study recommends criteria for selection of a wastewater management technology that coulll be used in the Okavango Delta to minimize pollution risk.

Key words: Wastewater, Okavango, Delta, effluellf, quality, septic tan