Abstract:
The Maasai Mara Game Reserve is experiencing expansion in tourist facilities to
accommodate increasing traffic. A major impact of this being wastewater released to the
fragile environment. The objective of this study wasto examine effects of wastewater
management methods on quality of wastewater in 4 purposively selected tourist facilities
located in Sekenani by assessing seasonal quality of effluent discharged. Samples were
collected randomly from the effluent during wet and dry seasons and analyzed for: pH,
Temperature, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Phosphates,
Nitrates, Electrical Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Total Suspended Solids
and Coliforms. Data were analyzed using SPSS and tested using ANOVA at 0.05
confidence level. Water quality index of the effluent was used to examine the efficiency
of the treatment approaches. Quality of wastewater was generally poor. Dissolved
Oxygen (p=0.006; p=0.001); TSS (p=0.005; p=0.001), and phosphates (p=0.006;
p=0.001) showed variation between seasons. Single septic tank (26) and septic tank and
soak away treatment (27) approaches produced water with the lowest quality based on
Water Quality Index. This threatens the health of the communities down stream as it may
cause water borne diseases such as cholera and disruption of food chains. To mitigate
against discharge of poor quality wastewater to the environment, we recommend
adoption of sustainable wastewater management technologies e.g. constructed wetlands
and robust enforcement of national environmental regulations. Further studies should
include monitoring changes in macroinvertebrate species diversity and abundance along
the recipient streams to provide a more holistic and integrated assessment of the
ecological impact of the wastewater on the receiving lotic environments.
