Water and Sanitation for All
The ‘Water and Sanitation for All’ Project has been made possible thanks to the joint efforts of the Fundación Abril, CeVI of Italy, and the neighborhood Water Cooperative “San Pedro Magisterio.” Its central accomplishment was the mobilization of the grassroots to build a domestic wastewater treatment plant in a neighborhood of the city of Cochabamba, an achievement that showed politicians, technocrats, and the society at large that ordinary people are able to manage their water and their water systems themselves. This project has also helped to re-establish a more harmonious relationship between the neighborhood, the river, the earth, and nature. It also showed the power of organizing people based on our specific daily needs and the values that can be strengthened around water.
Despite the significant progress made in recent years to ensure access to drinking water and to sanitation —recognized by the United Nations—, it remains a right denied to many in Bolivia. It is estimated that only 48% of the population has access to sanitation in its most basic sense. The situation is even direr when considers the final treatment of wastewater, since an estimated 80% of the water used does not receive any treatment before being returned to the environment. In Cochabamba, the Rocha River is the main recipient of the city’s wastewater, and it has become so polluted that it was declared an “environmental disaster”.
Faced with this dire situation, CeVI and the Fundación Abril began to dialogue with the water cooperatives of Cochabamba, and this was the initial spark which ignited into the project ‘Water and Sanitation for All’. The project, aims to help guarantee the right of access to basic sanitation while at the same time strengthen the cooperative and community management of water services. One year later, after long and deliberate discussions with numerous water cooperatives, a detailed analysis of technical options, and consultation with the local and departmental authorities, we settled on the Cooperative San Pedro Magisterio, located in District 2 of the Municipality of Sacaba, and teamed up with the San Pedro Magisterio community. After nearly two years of intense work, the first community-owned and -operated domestic wastewater treatment plant on the Rocha River opened in April 2015.
The project “Water and Sanitation for All” also aimed to strengthen community water management in the San Pedro Magisterio neighborhood water cooperative. In parallel to the construction of the plant itself and related infrastructure, advisory and training activities were carried out on the technical and administrative management of the service with the leaders, operators, and members of the Cooperative San Pedro Magisterio. In addition, a series of workshops were held on the proper use of water and the sewer system in homes. All these activities were aimed at promoting the involvement and participation of the community in the development of the project, and at providing technical and theoretical tools so that the Cooperative could operate its new wastewater treatment plant in an effective and sustainable manner.
Finally, the project had an international impact: linking together and establishing contacts between movements and experiences in the defense of water and sanitation as fundamental human rights and in the fight against water privatization in all areas and aspects.
