As a light rain drizzled over Kariakoo Market, Mwamvita Salum crouched on the flooded pavement, rinsing carrots, ginger and green pepper in murky water. She knew the practice wasn’t safe, but it was her only option.
“I have to clean them with rainwater,” she explained. “My customers would only buy them if they’re not caked with soil.”
The rain had been pounding the city for hours, overwhelming the market’s aging sewage system and turning the crammed neighbourhood into rivers of stinking sludge. Just a few feet away, puddles of murky water mixed with raw sewage seeped from a clogged sewer down the street, where bare-chested labourers were unloading watermelons from a lorry. The stench of faeces hung in the air.
Dar es Salaam, one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, has experienced rapid urbanisation over the past few decades. With a population exceeding 5.8 million, the city’s infrastructure is under immense pressure. Skyscrapers dominate the skyline, roads are congested and basic utilities like water, electricity and sewage are struggling to keep up with the growing population.
The sewage systems, many of which were built in the 1980s to serve a fraction of today’s population, are woefully outdated, local analysts said.
“The city’s drainage and wastewater infrastructure can no longer cope with its rapid growth,” said Enes Mahenge, professor of environmental engineering at Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam. “Taller buildings are emerging like mushrooms every single day, but the sewage systems simply can’t handle the volume of wastewater.”
According to Tanzania’s Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA), only 25 per cent of Dar es Salaam’s wastewater is collected and treated. The rest flows untreated through the streets, into rivers, and eventually into the Indian Ocean, contaminating the environment and endangering marine life.
In Kariakoo, clogged sewers spill dirty water into the streets, mixing with rainwater to create potentially harmful sludge. The stench is unbearable, posing severe health risks to city dwellers.
In Dar es Salaam, over 90 per cent of residents depend on on-site sanitation systems like septic tanks and pit latrines, many of which are poorly maintained. In densely populated areas, narrow streets make it impossible for wastewater trucks to access these systems, leading residents to resort to unsafe methods.
Some dig holes in their latrines during heavy rains, allowing waste to wash away. Others hire informal workers known as “frogmen” to manually empty pits, further spreading contamination.
Waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery have surged, with Muhimbili National Hospital officials estimating that 30 per cent of hospital visits in the city are linked to contaminated water.
For Japhet Haule, a father of five, the persistent wastewater leaking from his toilet has become a pressing issue that he cannot afford to ignore. “Whenever my kids step in it, they end up sick. I don’t always have the money to take them to the doctor,” said Haule, a 39-year-old resident of Magomeni, a densely populated suburb about 15 minutes from Dar es Salaam’s city centre.
Living in this congested neighborhood with little access to basic sanitation services, he has been forced to release the sludge from his toilet into a nearby drainage channel, which eventually flows into the polluted Msimbazi River.
“We are not supposed to dump waste like this, and if you’re caught, the fines are steep. But I don’t have another option.” Like many of his neighbours, Haule struggled to afford the high cost of hiring private cesspit trucks to empty his toilet. “They charge around 70,000 Tanzanian shillings (about $28) per trip,” he explained. “That’s money I simply don’t have.”
City officials acknowledge the problem but state that fixing Dar es Salaam’s sewage system requires enormous resources. The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA), responsible for the city’s sewage management, has admitted that many parts of the city are inadequately served by the current system.
The challenge is the rapid growth of the city. Dar es Salaam is expanding faster than our ability to build new infrastructure. It’s not just about fixing what’s broken; it’s about improving the entire system to meet future demands.Lydia Ndibalema, director of wastewater and sanitation at DAWASA
However, there is a glimmer of hope. The government has outlined multiple plans to address the crisis. One of the plans is to design, build, and operate a new wastewater treatment facility with the capacity to treat 200,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day on the outskirts of the city.
The initiative, financed through a partnership between the Tanzanian government and the World Bank, and supervised by DAWASA, aimed to significantly reduce environmental pollution by ensuring the safe treatment of wastewater.
The government is also planning to construct new sewage pipelines to areas currently not connected to the network. This is part of its broader push to improve public health and reduce the environmental toll of untreated wastewater flowing into rivers and eventually into the Indian Ocean.
For residents and traders, patience is waning. The daily battle with overflowing sewers and filthy streets is frustrating, and many feel abandoned by their local authorities.
“We don’t care about promises of the future,” said Salum. “We want action now. We can’t wait for the government to fix this in five years when our livelihoods are affected today.”
Short-term measures by city authorities, such as clearing blockages and repairing broken pipes, have provided some relief, but these are only stopgap solutions.
“Clearing blockages is like putting a bandage on a gaping wound,” said Mahenge. “We need to completely overhaul the sewage system, not just patch it up.” For residents like Haule, the proposed sewage treatment projects couldn’t come soon enough.
The environmental impact of untreated sewage flowing into the Indian Ocean further fuels the crisis. Rukia Kitula, a coastal and marine resources management researcher at the University of Dar es Salaam, warned, “The coral reefs are suffocating, and fish populations are dwindling. We’re watching an ecological disaster unfold.”