Sewage Free Anchieta Campaign

RECOMMENDATIONS

This component is an outline of a plan to build community capacity for decentralized sanitation options. In addition, it proposes participatory visioning in order to begin to consider how Ocupação Anchieta can become a model for sustainability. Community capacity will be built by developing a volunteer role of sewage champion. The role will involve conducting surveys to understand the status of infrastructure in the Occupation and develop an educational campaign. The visioning responds to design and project questions to how a sanitation project may be sustainable.

209 Site Image Illustrating the Lack of Stormwater Management Options.

Decentralized sanitation technologies are a particularly good option for the Occupation to explore. The inexpensive nature of these technologies, coupled with their ability to clean the wastewater before it enters the municipal system or watershed, makes this type of technology ideal. Technologies can range in design from individual household level interventions (similar to the septic systems already in place) to clustered larger systems (Gutterer et al., 2009). The Taubman College Team proposes two stages of recommendations: one stage to address the status of sewage in the settlement and one to address future sewage visioning with the goal of cleaning wastewater before it leaves the Occupation.

SEWAGE FREE ANCHIETA CAMPAIGN

Sewage Champions

One of the most critical issues related to sewage management in the Occupation is the lack of a complete sewage infrastructure system. One of the simplest ways to improve sanitation is through the development of a plan to hook up every household to the municipal system. Given the current barriers for sewage improvement in the Occupation, including cost of materials and level of expertise, improving capacity for sewage management will be crucial for improving the environmental health and livelihood of residents as well as improving tenure security.

Currently, comprehensive knowledge regarding the state of sewage infrastructure in the Occupation is uncertain. In fact, Taubman Team members received different explanations about which houses have open sewage disposal, which are either connected to rudimentary septic tanks, and which are informally connected to the municipal system. This is problematic because even if one house is disconnected, negative externalities impact the entire Occupation. Thus, it is important for every house to be serviced by improved sewage.

Infrastructure Survey: Sample Questions

What is your house number?

How many people live in your house?

What type of sewage do you have if any? (pipe leaving house, Septic tank with outflow, septic tank without outflow, septic tank with connection to the municipality)

Can we take a picture of your sewage system?

If there is a septic tank, how large is it?

Has it been filled to capacity yet?

Have you had your septic system pumped? If so, how much did it cost?

Did you construct your sewage system yourself? If not, who helped you construct the system?

How much did it cost to construct your sewage system?

How do you maintain your sewage system?

Would you prefer a different sewage system?

One of the primary recommendations of the Sewage Free Anchieta plan is to find residents willing to volunteer as “sewage champions.” These residents should be relatively experienced with current wastewater systems and see the benefit connecting the entire Occupation to improved sanitation. This recommendation first requires conducting a comprehensive sewage infrastructure study. The study may be completed with members from the Taubman Team upon their return this summer. Ideally, the survey will be administered in every Ocupação Anchieta house. Survey questions should assess several conditions outlined in the call out box and should be further developed with the sewage champions once they are selected. Given this information, the sewage champions will be able to identify target areas to strategically plan improvements to household sewage infrastructure.

Another task for the sewage champions will be to understand residents’ capacity and ability to install sewage infrastructure. During Taubman Team’s site visit, students informally interviewed one of the residents who installed gato connections to the municipal sewage system. This indicates that there are members of the Occupation who have the capacity to assist in implementation. When one household or block does not have the specific skills to install a septic tank or connect to the municipal system, the sewage champions will be able to organize assistance. If new residents move to the Occupation, the sewage champions can assist them in installing improved sewage infrastructure.

Next, the sewage champions, in conjunction with Ocupação Anchieta Association (the Association) coordinators, can act as mediators and motivators, working

CASE STUDY: Tiruchirappoali, India

In this study, microfinancing was examined as a tool for funding improvements in water and sanitation technologies in a city in India. Tiruchirappoali has a severe lack of sanitation infrastructure with only 37% of residents have access to a toilet (Barenburg 2009). Microfinance loans were given through women’s selfhelp groups averaging around $91 in this study to build latrines, toilets, bathing facilities and water faucets (Barenburg 2009). This study illustrates the potential for microfinance in the previously underutilized realm of water and sanitation infrastructure development.

210 Ssriram mt (2014)

with households who are unable or unwilling to improve their sewage infrastructure. In the case that residents feel they cannot afford to build a septic tank, the sewage champions can present accurate costs of construction and a savings plan. In the case that residents are unmotivated to connect, the sewage champions can talk with the resident about the importance of improved sewage infrastructure and provide further informational material that is developed in conjunction with the sewage champions.

Lastly, the sewage champion(s) will oversee the organization and maintenance of the septic tanks. Septic tanks need inspection and pumping approximately every three years to prevent the risk of overflowing and not working properly (EPA, 2013). Moreover, the tanks need to be pumped out when they become full. Depending on the size of the tank and family, pumping may need to occur every 3-5 years. This comes at an expense. It is unknown how much pumping would cost in Ocupação Anchieta, but in São Paulo, a septic tank of about 10,000 L would cost approximately R$320, or the equivalent of USD $102 (Limpa Fossa, n.d.).

Although local sewage experts have been helping neighbors set up their sewage systems, these volunteers do not yet have a vision for comprehensively connecting the entire site. Thus, the major challenge regarding this recommendation pertains to the logistics of developing a comprehensive understanding of the Occupation and insuring that the volunteers understand the job they are taking on and are willing to follow through with it. Secondly, the