All households in Uruguay must now have a sewerage connection. Uruguay’s House of Representatives passed a bill making sewerage connections compulsory on 5 July 2011.
The new bill includes provisions to provide subsidies and grants to those who cannot afford a connection, as well as fines for those who fail to comply with the new law.
In the capital Montevideo, the local government will administer the new law, while state water utility OSE will be responsible for the rest of the country.
While improved rural sanitation coverage was estimated to be 99% in 2008 (WHO/UNICEF, 2010), some 50,000 households are still not connected to a sewerage network. In some areas only 15% of households have sewerage connections.
A front page story in the newspaper the Observer urged the National Water Commission (NWC) to quickly repair a freshwater pipe and begin work on a ruptured sewer main that for two weeks had caused great discomfort to residents of Waterford in Portmore, St Catherine.
In the story residents complained that a “a pool of sewage, filled with human waste, that had clogged their toilets and sent raw sewage flowing into some homes”.
The problem according to the residents started two weeks ago when a NWC worker came to reconnect a home along Portland West to the sewer system but broke a freshwater pipe and sewer line in the process. As a result what started as small hole in the road became wider later.
A few hours after the newspaper hit the streets NWC workers repaired the pipe and were working feverishly to fix the sewer main — both of which were damaged by workmen.
“We are glad that it is being fixed and we would like it to be done today. We have a heap of pickney (children) here,” said Veronica Brown, an elderly resident of Canewood Road whose toilet, among others, had been clogged and whose house was almost inundated with raw sewage.
Water with excrement entered the houses of a complete block in the neighvourhood ”Cristo del Rosario”. The residents affirm that it happens each time it rains, but that yesterday, without any rains, their houses were flooded.
Jorge Sandoval, a resident, indicates that the problem started two years ago. “When they started cleaning-up of the lake they changed the sewer system with less thick pipes”.
Residents have called the Nicaraguan Aqueducts and Sewer Systems (Enacal) for help, but the only answer received was that they should open a hole so that the water goes out into the street.
“Each time it rains we have a mess in our yards and if we don’t remove the water ourselves it comes into the house. When this happens the water comes from the toilets and from the drainage of our bath”, says Juana Balladares Obando.
The Japanese government has signed a 55mn-cordoba (US$2.56mn) grant agreement for the expansion of the sanitation system in western Nicaragua’s Granada city, local paper La Prensa reported.
Full article available on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 13 Aug 2010
Peru’s Camana province, in Arequipa region, is set to begin a rehabilitation and expansion project on its 45-year old sewerage system, according to Camana governor Sergio Davila Vizcarra. The project will require an investment of 25.5mn soles (Euro 7.018), state news agency Andina reported.
Read full article on: BNmericas.com, [Subscription site], 23 August 2010
Uruguayan state-owned water utility OSE is implementing measures to increase domestic sewerage connections in the country. Measures include waiving the connection fee for households outside capital Montevideo, offering loans and new proposed legislation making connection to the public network obligatory.
Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site] , 08 Feb 2010
Sanitation conditions in Haiti are gradually improving thanks to the efforts of aid workers following the earthquake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince on 12 January 2010. However, progress has been slow and there are many obstacles that still need to be overcome.
As of 31 January 2010, the damage from the earthquake has left 112,405 dead, 196,595 injured and over 11 million people homeless, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Haitian capital lacks sewerage infrastructure and the earthquake ruptured the city’s water lines. Garbage is also accumulating in the streets which is exacerbating the health risks.
The WASH Cluster is now reaching 500,000 people with 5 litres per person per day, according to the DFID situation report of 2 February 2010. With water provision now adequate, sanitation is the next priority. The cluster reports that 7,000 latrines are needed. A distribution plan for 1,169 latrine slabs has been agreed with partners in Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel.
UNICEF video on emergency water and sanitation in Haiti
The WASH Cluster Haiti Update of 30 January 2010 reports that 292 latrines have been completed or are under construction across the country, serving a potential 29,000 people assuming 1 latrine serves 100 people. The Sanitation Strategic Working Group composed of the WASH Cluster, UNICEF, Oxfam, Care, World Vision, ACF and ICRC are proposing the use of portable chemical toilets through a joint venture between a local sanitation firm and Armal Inc.
Slow Progress
Action Against Hunger (ACF) is distributing potable water and food, although the recovery process is moving slowly, according to Lucile Grosjean from ACF in Haiti. “There is garbage everywhere,” Grosjean said.
The local government did not allow ACF or any organization to dig trenches in the Haitian capital’s central plaza, the Champs de Mars, said Grosjean. These trenches were to be used to dispose of the accumulating waste and human feces of between 20,000 and 25,000 people which have congregated in the area.
As a result, ACF has started to build above-ground latrines and began digging trenches to install the latrines in the Croix Deprez area, according to Grosjean.
At the same time, International Migration Organization (IOM) is distributing tents, hygiene kits, blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting, water bladders and water purifying kits, donated by the US, Japanese and Turkish governments. These efforts are expected to benefit some 26,000 people, IOM reported on its website.
Meanwhile, international aid organization Care is distributing hygiene kits and training survivors to purify contaminated water.
Care representatives are showing people how to use the purifying packets, since the objective is for Haitians to start carrying out the process by themselves.
“We are trying to identify people in neighborhoods or communities and train them so they can then go on to train more people,” the official added.
Care will be distributing PUR packets in the coming weeks together with large buckets where water can be purified. The organization will also provide other items such as soap and sanitary napkins.
During the emergency phase of the earthquake, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ensured a round-the-clock supply of water by trucks to Cité Soleil, the poorest area of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Removing the rubble
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is working to remove rubble and garbage, in an effort to improve general sanitation conditions.
UNDP is currently employing more than 1,000 Haitians to restart economic activity. After the emergency, the organization hired 700 inhabitants to remove rubble and rehabilitate essential social infrastructure, such as street repairs and electricity.
Prior to the earthquake UNDP had 400 employees carrying out an ecological project in Carrefour, a neighborhood located south of Port-au-Prince. Following the earthquake, the workers and trucks from this project started to remove the rubble and clean streets so other trucks carrying aid could go through, the official said.
In spite of the urgency to reorganize capital Port-au-Prince, resources continue to be limited. UNDP estimates that a US$41.3mn donation is needed for early recovery initiatives in Haiti. This is part of a nearly US$600mn flash appeal launched by UNDP on January 15. The organization estimates some US$58.8mn needs to be invested in water, sanitation and hygiene programs.
Relocation
Using free transport provided by the government, more than 235,000 people have left Port-au-Prince and moved to rural neighborhoods where the effects of the earthquake were not so severe. Some 62,000 have relocated to Artibonite, for example. However, 800,000 people are still living in temporary camps in the capital, OCHA reported.
To avoid the spread of diseases, the government is planning to relocate another 400,000 from Port-au-Prince to new settlements which are being set up. The relocation program will be carried out in the coming weeks.
Next Steps
Haiti declared the search and rescue phase over on 23 January 2010 so international rescue teams are concentrating more on humanitarian aid for those who need it, instead of searching the rubble for survivors.
Multilateral entities such as the World Bank and IDB are already taking steps to waive debts. UK-based charity Oxfam has urged donor countries to have Haiti’s foreign debts cancelled. It called for about US$900mn owed to the UN, the World Bank and countries including the US, France, Canada and Brazil to be written off.
Usually you read that water utilities in Latin America want to increase rates to be able to invest in improved services or reduce consumption in the wake of looming shortages (see examples from Mexico and Colombia). Not so in Chile. The country’s award-winning sanitation service authority SISS announced that potable water and sewage service rates would decrease by an average of 2.8% as of 15 January 2010. Economic index values are the principal cause for the rate reduction, according to SISS.
Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 12 Jan 2010
Rio de Janeiro lacks the sanitation services required to host the 2014 World Cup, according to Marcelo Cortes Neri, head of the center for social research for the Brazilian economic thinktank Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). Current sanitation services will not support the influx of tourists into the city during the sporting event.
Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 07 Dec 2009
The Entidad Binacional Yacyretá (EBY) joint venture that administers the Yacyretá hydroelectric plant on the Argentine-Paraguayan border has invested US$57mn in a sewerage system and wastewater treatment plant for Paraguay’s Itaipúa department capital Encarnación. EBY says the system will save Encarnación some US$250mn in treating water-borne diseases.
Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 03 Dec 2009
The municipality of Bolivian capital La Paz has called an international tender for construction and repairing of the enclosing of the Apumalla river. The project has a referential budget of 40mn bo...
Authorities in Venezuelan capital Caracas have fixed the damage to the city's potable water distribution system, which led to massive water cuts throughout the city over the weekend, and the service i...
Urban wastewater treatment coverage in Chile has more than doubled in the last 10 years, now reaching 94.2% of the population, according to a new report published by the national sanitation services a...
The town of Santa Isabel in southeastern Brazil's São Paulo state is planning a project to implement a water treatment plant and a sewage treatment plant in the municipality, local NGO Instituto Trata...
The Mexican government has published a national development plan that will form the roadmap for water and waste policies over the next six years. The plan covers all areas of government policy, loo...
Mexico's national water commission, Conagua, has started construction of the Palanganas dam in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua state, according to a release from Conagua. The dam, to cost 720mn pesos (US$...
Colombian housing, cities and land ministry (Minvivienda) has approved 7.32bn pesos (US$4mn) in new waterworks projects for Nariño, Chocó and Norte de Santander departments. In Nariño, the governme...
Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) has committed to investing 200mn reais (US$98.3mn) over the next 12 months to help combat drought, under the country's Uma Terra, Duas Águas progr...
A WASH News blog maintained by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
