question on sanitation

By Water for People Posted on Tue 18 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

A solid proposal as always from El Porvenir. On sanitation, the challenge is to make sanitation provision sustainable and so many are trying to think beyond building latrines to actually facilitating the development of latrine services so that - as communities grow/change/old latrines fill then the community members without latrines do not have to go search out support from El Porvenir but actually can solve their own problem. I would like to see more thinking on this so that we are not simply building latrines for X number of families but rather a plan to get anitation solved locally forever.

question on sanitation

By El Porvenir Posted on Sun 23 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

Ned,

Thanks for your positive comment. I see this proposal as just a first step of many as we start to look down this road and try to find options that are more sustainable. Perhaps a second step could be to have some of my technical staff visit your composting latrine projects in Bolivia and Mexico - any thoughts of implementing them in Honduras? (much closer for us :-).

Rob

question about the composting latrines

By Protos Posted on Mon 17 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

This looks to me a very nice project.

Could you clarify a bit more about the composting latrines? Are the latrines of the Eco-sanitation type, of which farmers can use the compost and liquid fraction on their field?

question about the composting latrines

By Blue Planet Network Posted on Mon 17 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

it seems that the tour (part of an earlier conversation) to study how to introduce econsan toilets to latin america is not part of the project.

the project definition seems to be based on the regular pit latrines. i would like to see the tour linked so the results (hopefully positive) can be included in the project. to be explicit, the study should influence the project.

the cost structure/schedule/training may change ...

question about the composting latrines

By El Porvenir Posted on Sun 23 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

Dear Marc and Rajesh,

The latrines are indeed of the Eco-sanitation type, although we will not know if the people will use the compost on their fields until after the "tour" as Rajesh calls it. I doubt that they do use the compost, in Latin America, the culture is somewhat leery of using compost - we shall see what these other projects have been doing and what has worked. (I see Ned chimed in below - I know WFP has some successful composting latrine projects in Bolivia (Terrain doesn't permit any other type of latrine) and Mexico (some growing environmental consciousness) - it will be interesting to see how these other projects compare)

Marc, you also mentioned the water table. In Nicaragua, the government standard (if you can call it that, loosely enforced) is VIP latrines of a maximum depth of 3m to avoid coming within 2m of the water table. Our staff are all trained and aware of the water table issue, so in the rare case that the water table is closer than 5m, the latrines are built less deep and the infrastructure is partially built above ground.

Rajesh, you ask about including the composting latrines in this round of funding, but I prefer to do the investigation now and then if all is well, ask for funding in the next round. I see 2 problems with including it now: (a) I have no idea how to budget for them, i.e. what do they cost? and (b) what if the study says to us that composting latrines don't work in Nicaragua/El Salvador? I'd rather be cautious, and learn more about the technology. As a project implementer, I'd rather be more responsible and have as much information as possible before moving forward.

Thanks,
Rob

question about the composting latrines

By Peer Water Exchange Posted on Sun 23 Dec 2007, over 18 years ago

Hi Rob,

I have no problem with some experimental funding. When you find out what eco-san costs and how to make it work, we can re-evaulate the project costs. In fact, without that, it becomes an "unsustainable" sanitation project. As has been observed and mentioned, this might end up just building a pit latrine with a grant and then repeating the process in a few years, without being able to create a self-sustaining model.

There are many areas where cultural boundaries and habits may make things seem untenable. While avoiding total homogenization, we need to push some boundaries.

In India, its been observed, that if you start with eco-san, it goes well. If you start with pour-flush, then its harder to introduce eco-san.

If we are granting funds for sanitation then eco-san/composting (or dual pit) systems are the way to go. If we are granting funds to create a self-sustaining sanitation program, then there is more flexibility.

Regards,
Rajesh