Graphic captioning the time at which Waste water will become suitable levels of consumption.

The number of people in Africa with access to improved sanitation, defined as “one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact” (WHO/UNICEF 2010), has increased over the last two decades. Still, because of the rapid urbanisation, the proportion of the urban population with access to improved sanitation is on the decrease.

Proper disposal of sewage is essential for urban water quality, and in Yaoundè the treatment of wastewater, excreta, and sewage can be classified into two categories – individual wastewater systems (septic tanks and latrines) and collective wastewater systems (sewer and treatment plants). About half of the residents of Yaoundè are connected to the sewer system, while the rest depend on either septic tanks, latrines, or a combination of the two.

While the white population were the majority in the early period of Grahamstown, South Africa, they were outnumbered around 1920. Historically, the non-white population did not pay for water and sanitation services, and this became a problem when this demographic group became the clear majority.