Organic Dry Toilets in Pumpuentsa

Well, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog. I had started this blog entry way back in March, and have decided to finish it, keeping in mind that I have much more updating to do. In the meantime, enjoy!

Here are some photos of the latest trip we made to Pumpuentsa to build one dry composting toilet as a pilot project. This project wouldn't have been possible without the technical expertise and creativity of Chris Canaday, Conservation Biologist and Promoter of EcoSan. For more information on dry toilets and the work he does, please visit his blog here.  There have been great sanitation problems in Pumpuentsa, largely due to an increase in population and thus contamination of natural resources: largely water and soil.  In the past, Achuar families lived farther away from each other and more dispersed throughout the land, but since the creation of airstrips, the spatial organization in the community has concentrated people around the strip.  This puts greater pressure on their land, especially when it comes to the elimination of human waste.  There are no (functioning) toilets or outhouses, so most people deposit their waste beyond their gardens, which contaminates the soil and then the water they drink from the river.  Some years ago, the municipal government installed flushing toilets for some families, but these systems relied on water pumping, which the community did not have. So, many of these toilet systems have been used as storage rooms. Thanks local government, for the infrastructure-without-education-or-capacity-building!

In March, we worked with Chris to install a pilot organic dry toilet, which separates human waste into two parts: urine is redirected through a funnel to create a nitrogen-rich fertilizer while fecal matter is deposited into a rice sack and covered with ash or dry material, which prevents flies from laying eggs and creating an unpleasant smell. After 6 months of resting in a dry location, the contents of the rice sack are completely converted to re-usable soil material! Seriously, check out Chris' site linked earlier in this entry to see some of the cool projects he has done!

Marta stands before the finished dry organic toilet product! She is happy and she and her family have been using it ever since! Hopefully the rest of the community shows interest in this pilot project enough to create a proposal for it! (to be explored further).