Bolivia Initiatives

INCLUSIVE SANITATION BUSINESS

Water For People–Bolivia is experimenting with ways to make toilets more attractive to communities. Recognizing that people often put their economic health before their personal health, Water For People–Bolivia, together with partners, is creating economic incentives for people to start building and using ecological sanitation (composting toilets). In Tiraque, they are setting up a revolving sanitation fund that allows households to access loans to build toilets, and are also piloting solar composting toilets, while in San Pedro, women-run small ecological sanitation businesses are being promoted, with women trained as masons, plumbers, and health promoters. In Cuchumuela, Water For People–Bolivia is piloting an inclusive sanitation business wherein people are able to make money using the compost from their toilets as fertilizer.

Cuchumuela is known for its mushroom production. Once a year, a particular variety of mushroom is grown under a certain species of pine tree and is a cash crop for residents. The inclusive sanitation business capitalizes on this market-based logic that composting toilets produce fertilizers; the fertilizers can be used to increase pine production; more pines means more mushrooms; and more mushrooms means more income for Cuchumuelenos. The process for establishing the business is under way through the help of partner organizations and the local government.

PERI-URBAN WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE EDUCATION

In 2008, Water For People was invited by the Bolivian government to start work in a peri-urban area outside the city of Cochabamba, and together with UN-Habitat, it has begun work in District 9. In the coming years, Water For People–Bolivia, together with partners, plans to increase access to improved sanitation and water supply for 20,000 people living in District 9, and to reach 100,000 people with a hygiene promotion program. The program will also provide community and partner training, investigate community/city-level service provider partnerships, and offer policy and institutional analysis.

Due to the district’s distance from the city center and the limited access to the city’s water supply, Water For People–Bolivia is working together with partners and communities to pilot a water system wherein a large local tank is regularly supplied by water trucks. A distribution system from the large tank then supplies water to both public and household taps. These public taps are managed by a private operator who is trained in developing tariffs and establishing a sustainable operation and management system. The water from the water trucks will also be regularly tested to ensure that its quality meets government standards.

Water For People–Bolivia is also demonstrating composting toilets, experimenting with low-cost toilet designs, and exploring the sanitation chain to determine where income-generating opportunities exist. Water For People–Bolivia is also working with finance and loan providers such as Crédito con Educación Rural (CRECER) and Habitat for Humanity to provide households with access to loans for sanitation facilities.

MUNICIPAL CAPACITY BUILDING (DMSB)

In each municipality where Water For People–Bolivia targets its efforts, it works together with communities, local governments, and other nongovernmental institutions to improve water and sanitation access and provide hygiene education. In 2007, to strengthen the local municipal government’s ability to support water-sanitation- and hygiene-related community development, Water For People–Bolivia convinced them to each create a position charged with overseeing this work. Each municipality established a position known as the Municipal Basic Sanitation Unit (UMSB) to assist communities with system operation and maintenance, oversee water- and sanitation-related projects, support local NGOs in the field, understand community needs, and provide health and hygiene education. Initially, Water For People–Bolivia supported a portion of the UMSB salary, and provided skills training and helped facilitate cooperation with communities and local NGOs. As the UMSBs spent more time in the field, demand from communities grew, and trust and cooperation with the municipal government were built. The Basic Sanitation Unit has now been upgraded to the Department of Basic Sanitation (DMSB) with additional staff to manage all of the projects, and is now an active and permanent coordinating department for all water-sanitation-and hygiene-related work. Water For People–Bolivia works closely with the department by providing training and facilitating coordination between the DMSB and other institutions.

WATER CONSERVATION THROUGH WATER METERS

Water For People–Bolivia is promoting water conservation through the use of meters on all the water systems it establishes or rehabilitates. Water meters are placed on the distribution lines and display the amount of water that flows out of the tap. This allows the water committees and community members to monitor water usage and establish an affordable, usage-based fee structure to maintain the system.

In the community of Condor Qhochi, Cuchumuela, water meters were recently installed because of system overuse. The community is now able to track water use, monitor the amount of pressure placed on the system by individuals, and ensure that drinking water isn’t being used for irrigation. In Cuchumuela, 100% of the piped water systems now have water meters.