On January 23rd 2008 Margaret Abira successfully defended in public her PhD thesis 'A Pilot Constructed Wetland for Pulp and Paper Mill Wastewater'. Her promotor was Professor Patrick Denny (Emeritus Professor of Wetland and Aquatic Ecology, UNESCO-IHE), and co-promotor was Dr. Hans van Bruggen (UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands).
Other members of the committee were Dr. Okia Okurut from the Lake Victoria Basin Commission East African Community Secretariat, Professor Verhoeven from Utrecht University, Professor Scheffer from Wageningen University and Professor O’Keeffe from UNESCO-IHE.
This was not only a very special day for Margaret, but also for her promotor Patrick Denny. He has delivered his last young doctor, and can look back at a total of nine PhD students he has supervised during his professorship at UNESCO-IHE. By coincidence the chief examiner, Dr. Okia Okurut, was the first PhD graduate of Professor Denny.
The main objectives of Abira’s research were to establish the efficicacy of a pilot, experimental constructed wetland in the purification of the wastewater from the PANPAPER mills in Webuye in Kenya, one of the largest mills in Africa, and to determine the optimal design criteria and operating conditions for a full-scale constructed wetland. This research was sponsored by the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Programme (LVEMP).
It is clear from her research findings that integration of a full-scale constructed wetland with the current treatment system of PANPAPER mills will significantly improve the effluent quality and would reduce pollution in the Nzoia river from current levels by 90 %, 30 %, 44 %, 63 %, 100 % and 50 % for phenols, COD, TSS, BOD, nitrogen and phosphorous, respectively. The required land area for a full scale constructed wetland is 29 ha, however if PANPAPER maturation ponds 3 and 4 are converted to wetlands, the additional land area required is only 13 ha.
Margaret Abira was born on March 18, 1959 in Nairobi, Kenya. After she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Nairobi University in 1979 she was employed by the then Ministry of Water Development as a trainee Chemist. Margaret rose through the ranks serving in various capacities including heading the Central Water Testing Laboratory until 1992 when she obtained a scholarship from the Netherlands Fellowship Program to study Water Quality Management at UNESCO-IHE. She graduated with a postgraduate diploma in 1993 and a M.Sc. degree in 1994.
On returning to Kenya, Margaret was appointed to head the National Water Quality Monitoring Program. She participated in various national programs including the National Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Program, the drafting of the EIA guidelines and procedure and the UNEP/UNDP project on the development and harmonization of environmental standards in Kenya.
She joined the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project (LVEMP) in 1998 as the Task Leader of the subprogram on the Management of Industrial and Municipal Effluents. In January 1999 she commenced her PhD study at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water in a sandwich program. The same year she became the Team Leader of the Integrated Tertiary Industrial Effluents pilot project of the LVEMP under which she undertook the present research study.
Later in November she became the Regional Manager of the Lake Victoria South Catchment Area under She held the post until July 2005 when she proceeded to Delft to write her thesis. She is currently the Operations Manager of the newly established Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA).