Chiriragua, El Salvador — El Salvador’s inadequate wastewater treatment system has affected the environment and people’s health for decades, but amidst the shortcomings, some cities stand out and are betting on the disposal of liquid waste.
In 2014, various reports already warned that only 8.52% of wastewater in El Salvador, with 6.7 million inhabitants, received any type of treatment, and not much has changed since then.
It is therefore not surprising that with only 12% of rivers having good quality water, dozens of people die from diarrhea every year: this year, as of September 30, 63 people have died from diarrhea, out of more than 164,000 reported cases. , including gastroenteritis.
Wastewater refers to wastewater generated from household activities such as using sanitary facilities, toilets, sinks, washing clothes and other similar activities. Those produced industrially are also residues, but due to their own characteristics they require other, more complex treatments.
with international help
Few cities and communities have their own wastewater treatment systems, which in some cases have been established through their own funding, international agencies and national efforts.
“My job is to provide adequate maintenance so that the plant operates well so that the environment is not polluted,” Eduardo Ortega, operator of one of the few treatment plants in eastern Mexico, told IPS. The Savior.
The factory run by Ortega is located next to La Española, a rural settlement in the municipality of Chiriragua, bordering the Pacific Ocean in the southern province of San Miguel.
“My job is to provide adequate maintenance so that the factory runs well and thus ensures that the environment is not polluted”: Eduardo Ortega.
Hispaniola is a village of 40 houses built with Spanish partnership funds to benefit the same number of families dedicated to fishing and those affected by Hurricane Mitch, which caused deaths in Central America and destruction. 1998.
The housing project, funded by the government of Andalusia, Spain’s southern region, includes a rudimentary sanitation system unusual for rural areas: a sewage network that carries wastewater, including human waste, to sewage treatment plants for treatment.
There is a similar project nearby, Flores de Andalucía, near Chirilagua, with 278 homes for 1,500 families, also funded by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia for the same humanitarian purposes.
Currently, there are 196 “ordinary” type treatment plants in the country, i.e. responsible for filtration and sanitary activities.
That includes 90 private, 78 public and 17 community categories, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Bacteria and Gravel Filter
The process begins with a “sand pit,” a hydraulic structure that removes sand and other small particles before entering the water tank, said Edwin Guzmán, head of the environment department in the mayor’s office. and filtered through a grille. IPS. Chiriragua, a municipality of 25,000 inhabitants, including its capital and all settlements within its jurisdiction.
The liquid then passes into another container filled with bacteria, which eliminate the organic matter dissolved in the particles.
The waste then enters the biofiltration area: a two-meter-deep rectangular pond filled with layers of volcanic stone and gravel.
Finally, everything goes into another pond with a “permeate” filter, which contains more bacteria to eliminate any remaining organic matter.
“The treated water will not contaminate the San Roman River, which is about three kilometers away,” Guzman said.
He added: “Without this treatment plant the river, which is one of the few in the region with consistently good flows, would be severely polluted.”
If the rivers become polluted, so will the waters of the Pacific Ocean, which in this small country on the Central American isthmus has only one coast.
cleaner oceans
The Flores de Andalucía plant has a larger capacity and also receives wastewater from El Cuco. El Cuco Beach is about 2 kilometers south and attracts many tourists with its miles of gray sand and gentle surf.
El Cuco’s residents have been devoted to fishing, but there are also shops, small hotels and restaurants, and its wastewater no longer flows directly into the sea.
This waste is collected in a tank and, with the help of a gasoline engine, pumped through a pipe up the hill to the aforementioned factory, its final destination.
“Previously, all the water was discharged directly into the sea,” José Henríquez, one of the operators of the plant, told IPS.
“It’s important to treat the water because if we don’t, we’re going to pollute ourselves,” Henriquez said as he cleaned the plant’s pipes.
However, despite this initiative, it is estimated that only 60% of the sewage in El Cuco and surrounding areas can be treated, as there are always some people or businesses who flout the regulations for one reason or another and prefer to continue with the old practices. Pour water on the beach.
Additionally, it is important to consider that the nearby municipalities of Chiriragua do not have treatment plants, so much of the waste ends up in rivers and then into the sea.
Official data shows that 61.5% of Salvadoran households pour gray water or “soap cans” used for washing clothes, hand washing, dishwashing, etc. into the streets or outdoors, 33% of households dispose of this waste through sewers, and 2.3% through sewage treatment plants Dispose of this waste. Septic tank.
The remaining 3.1% pour water into rivers or use other methods.
A pollution-free bay
Further west, along Salvador’s coast, is the country’s main wetland, Jiquilisco Bay, which contains more than 600,000 hectares of lush natural beauty and is home to numerous species of marine coastal flora and fauna.
On the edge of the bay’s estuary stands the municipality of Puerto El Triunfo in the southern province of Usulutan, with about 20,000 inhabitants. Since late 2009, it has been surrounded by a treatment plant that treats the city’s wastewater.
The Puerto El Triunfo plant was also partially financed by a Spanish partnership, which accounted for approximately 50% of the project cost, totaling US$660,000.
The remaining investments are approved by the municipality and the state.
“Water that previously flowed into mangrove swamps and bays is now treated and becomes cleaner,” Evelio Álvarez, head of the environment department at the mayor’s office in El Triunfo, told International News society.
Alvarez said that in 2010, due to financial problems, the city could not afford to build the plant and handed control over to the state-run National Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, which has managed it ever since.
The facility also handles liquid waste from Jiquilisco, a municipality of approximately 50,000 residents located approximately 8 kilometers north of El Triunfo, Puerto Rico, from where it is pumped to the station.
Previously, waste from Jiquilisco would end up directly into the El Paso River, which flows into the bay.
“Most families make a living from fishing, and all the pollutants are deposited in the mangroves in the form of crude oil,” agroecologist Etelvina Pineda, head of the environment department at the Jiquilisco mayor’s office, explained to IPS.
Pollution spreads from the mangroves and their network of canals into the lowlands surrounding the bay, so that homemade wells that supply water to the region’s coastal communities contain high concentrations of contaminants. E. colia bacterium found in human feces.
You might be right too. . . interested in:
Wastewater could provide energy for 500 million people
Wastewater is a successful productive resource in the arid regions of northern Chile
Brazil tests biomethane as sanitation input
Furthermore, Pineda emphasized that in mangroves, “we end up contaminating the molluscs, crustaceans and all marine animals that live there” through feces and heavy matter.
As a result, people are exposed to contamination from consuming undercooked seafood, resulting in harmful health effects. Pollution has also decimated marine fauna, which is a source of income for these families.
However, like Chiriragua, Pineda warned that it cannot be said that the pollution has stopped 100 percent.
He emphasized that this requires a broader, more comprehensive effort that includes the other four cities that have an impact on the bay: Usulutan, San Dionisio, Concepcion Butres and Hucuarán.
In addition to a lack of financial resources to advance such a plan, Pineda argued that political will will be needed from local and national governments, which are not committed to solving the environmental problems of the region and the country.
Editor: EG