| dc.description.abstract | Waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) and constructed wetlands (CWs) are important
ecotechnologies for wastewater treatment. Despite their potential and wastewater management
being challenging in urban and peri-urban areas of Tanzania, their adoption and sustainability
is not well developed. This study examined (a) social knowledge, attitude, and perceptions
(KAPs) on wastewater treatment, technologies involved, and reuse across municipal
wastewater treatment plants in four regions of Tanzania; (b) biodiversity of birds, insects, and
reptiles in constructed wetlands (CWs) and waste stabilization ponds (WSPs), and (c) bacterial
abundance and diversity in different types of CWs. A semi-structured household-level
questionnaire (n=327) was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The survey
involved observations and face-to-face interviews to assess social KAPs on wastewater
treatment, technologies, reuse, and potential health risks. Key informants were selected
purposively (n=8). The study also employed point counts, direct observations, and camera traps
to assess bird diversity in WSPs and CWs. Direct observation and pitfall traps along established
transects were used to collect and assess insects and reptiles. Fishnet was used to assess the
reptiles living in the WSPs. Additionally, wastewater was collected in four different CWs for
bacterial diversity establishment. Community KAPs were analyzed using SPSS, while Jamovi
and PAST software were used to analyze the diversity and abundances of birds, insects, and
reptiles, whereas bacterial community composition was characterized using Illumina-based
sequencing of the V3 and V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA. The results show that social
KAPs surrounding wastewater treatment and reuse were sufficient based on the KAPs score
achieved from the asked questions. However, the general knowledge of treatment technologies,
processes and reuse risks was found to be low. Over 90% of respondents were unaware of
wastewater treatment technologies and the potential health risks associated with using treated
wastewater (59%). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P < 0.05)
in KAPs for treated wastewater across different demographic variables examined, i.e., age, sex
and education level. Furthermore, results showed that birds exhibit high species abundance (n
= 1132), high species richness, Margalef index (D = 4.266), evenness (E = 0.815), Shannon
diversity (H = 2.881) and Simpson index (λ =0.903). The abundance and diversity of studied
groups differed significantly (P<0.05) between WSPs and CWs. In addition, the results showed
that the Proteobacteria were dominant (48.66%) phyla across all CWs. The
Gammaproteobacteria class (27.67%), the family Comamonadaceae (35.79), and the genus
Flavobacterium (4.35%) were dominant in all examined CWs. | en_US |
