BY SAMUEL
NABWIISO
Uganda
breweries Limited (UBL) has commissioned a UGX 20 billion water effluent
treatment plant which aims at safeguarding water resources in Lake Victoria
from being contaminated by brewing effluents.
The water
treatment plant whose construction began in 2015 filters and purifies water
to portable state before it is disposed of cleaner than it was taken out.
According to the managers at the brewing company this saves Lake Victoria from
being contaminated with Industrial wastes of which some are contaminated with
dangerous industrial chemicals from the brewing industry.
“Uganda Breweries highly depends
on Lake Victoria for all the water it uses in the production process
its therefore Imperative that we safeguard
the water resources in the lake for both
industrial and Human usage by
establishing the water effluent treatment plant we shall limit on the amount of
contaminated water which is disposed of into the lake” said UBL,s head of corporate
affairs Charity Kiyemba during the commissioning of
the Environmentally friendly water treatment plant.
 |
| (L-R) Uganda Breweries Corporate Relations Sustainability and Public Policy Manager David Onyango, UBL Managing Director Mark Ocitti and KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi taking a tour of the newly launched UBL Effluent treatment plant. |
Conserving natural resources is one of the
core values of UBL, the beer making company on many occasions has been engaging
in the restoration of depleted forest cover in the country through planting trees
in various parts of the country especially in Mpigi District. UBL in partnership
with National Forestry Authority Planted restored the forest cover in Navugulu
Central forest reserve in Mpigi District (central Uganda) where they planted trees
in the 1900 hectares forest.
Apart from restoring
forest cover in the depleted government forest reserves, UBL has also engaged
in sanitation outreach programmes where
the company has provided improved latrines to various communities in the country
particularly in Kampala city which is sign to show that the beer company is
committed to protect the country, Environment from all sorts of destruction ranging
from Human activities to industrial one’s.
UBL,s Managing Director Mark Ociti
told Journalist that the company has an Environmental vision which aims
at reducing the amount of Industrial wastes generated
by 2020.ociti Explained that UBL
is committed to invest in all kinds of technology which will see the Beer brewing
company eliminating all waste
to landfill from their production operations by finding better ways to
reduce the wastes and one of them is the
installation of the water effluent treatment
which will not only save Lake victoria waters but also
supports the company to use the water resources from the lake efficiently.
“UBL has intentionally and purposely set
environmental protection in our sight s
and we shall continue to daily put in place mechanisms and process
that ensure that UBL as company maintain
green foot print and leaves lasting changes
for the communities” he explained.
How the water Effluent Plant works? The water from all sections
of the brewery come through all the drainages and it
is sieved from the course screen
to remove particles .It goes to
the effluent pump pit which later
pumps it to the retention tank
.Here its collected by the level
switches and when the water builds up to a certain level the switches start
automatically pumps water into
two retention tanks , the
equalization tank and the emergency one .The
water then goes to the fine screen which removes the remaining
dirty particles before
it goes to the lake or reused by
the Industry.
The 20
Billion worth Water effluent plant is multipurpose one because it generates wastes
which are used in the generation of power inform of biogas which is used to
power the brewery. Uganda breweries then
give out the highly fertile sludge to local farmers who use it as fertilizers.
Launching
the plant, Kampala capital city Authority Executive Director Jenipher Musisi Applauded Uganda Breweries for Investing
in the technology which will save
the country’s water resources from being
contaminated with Industrial wastes of
which some are very dangerous to the entire Ecosystem in the lake.
“This is
good gesture from the brewing company by installing the system this will
automatically saves Lake Victoria from being contaminated with industrial effluents
.its these wastes which has greatly impacted on the quality of water from Lake Victoria, a lake which is source of livelihoods
for millions of population” she said.
