EcoSan Project Safe Disposal & Use of Excreta

The indigenous community Munchique - Los Tigres is located in a mountainous rural area, two hours from the Santander de Quilichao in the Cauca Department of Colombia. The community faces water shortage, deteriorated water quality, open-air disposal of excreta or inadequate sanitary systems and malnutrition (30% of the children in the community are suffering from severe malnutrition). The indigenous community and municipal authorities are interested in development and use of ecological sanitation (ecosan) technologies to solve the problem in an integrated way.
CONSAM, together with the indigenous community, the municipal Government, the Alter-eco Corporation and with the consultants of Sarar Transformation, will implement a pilot project of 10 double ecosan toilets and 10 gardens for demonstration and learning purposes. The project will expose 1200 beneficiaries to the ecosan experience and create awareness for the up-scaling of the project for 4000 beneficiaries.

Goals overview

The Goal is to sensitise and train the Community about the concept of ecological sanitation (ecosan) and its link to environmental improvements and contribution to the food security, through the participatory design and construction of 10 demonstration EcoSan toilet systems and 10 community gardens. The project will expose 1200 beneficiaries to the ecosan experience and create awareness for the up-scaling of the project for 4000 beneficiaries.

Current status

The indigenous community and municipal authorities are interested in the development and use of technologies of ecological sanitation (ecosan) to solve the sanitation problems in an integrated way.
Together with the indigenous community Paéz Munchique-Los Tigres, the municipal Government, the Alter-eco Corporation and the consultants of Sarar Transformation, CONSAM will implement a pilot project of 10 double ecosan toilets systems and gardens for demonstration and learning purposes. The project will expose 1200 beneficiaries to the ecosan experience and create awareness with the aim of up-scaling the project activities in the whole community (4000 persons).
Present project support:
Aqua for All: Euro 30,793, Community contribution valued at €14,200, Contribution of Community agents of € 800 and Municipality of € 2,000.

Project plan

Women are working as equal partners in all the phases of the project (from the problem identification, the selection and implementation of the preferred solution, training, operation and maintenance). This will guarantee the ownership and enhance the sustainability of the project. The capacity development of women, during this process of working as equal partners, will not only benefit the women but also their families and community as a whole.

In the planned activities of design, operation and maintenance of the toilet systems the women and men will be integrated in an active way, designing the workshops with a separate exercise as a mechanism to give women and men the opportunity to express their preferences freely. They can decide on how to improve their actual conditions, through the use of paintings, drawings etc. carried out by women and men, respectively. They will define the responsibilities for the operation and maintenance of the toilet systems according to their customs. The same case applies to the decision about the handling of excreta and urine for the household crop gardens.

The need for separate toilet units for men and women will also be considered. In the case of public services, special attention in the design will be given to ensure that toilet systems are built in agreement with the needs of the women.

Expected outcomes

• 10 double demonstration EcoSan toilet systems
• 10 community gardens
• Community sensitized about the concept of ecological sanitat
• Environmental and livelihoods improvements
• Increased food security

The introduction of the new EcoSan technology for this project area is relatively unique in Colombia. The methodology chosen, with technical support form SARAR - Mexico, is participatory and incorporates local knowledge, local & traditional customs and materials and gender aspects. Workshops will be held on EcoSan toilet design and scale models will be build together with the participants. Training on appropriate operation and maintenance of the toilet systems will be included the workshops. The community will construct the toilet systems themselves at their own locations, directed and under supervision of a civil engineer and an architect. Sanitary and agricultural development aspects of the ecosan project will be carried out by the community under the guidance of a sanitation and agricultural engineer. This participatory approach under the supervision and guidance of qualified and experienced professionals will contribute to the sustainability of the project.