: Clean water, hygiene education and sanitation for three communities in Trojes, Honduras

Applicant Pure Water for the World Plan ID: 302
Status: approved_accepted Review Cycle end date: 2010-08-26

Discussion Forum

pour flush choice

By A Single Drop Posted on Fri 30 Jul 2010, over 13 years ago

Hi there

I'm curious, how did you choose the pour flush? I understand there's a river near by and that some people use a hose to extract water. For those who are a bit further and fetch water, do you feel they will be ok with having to fetch extra water to use their toilets? I know ecosan is an option, but often very hard to sensitize communities to it. Can you tell me your opinion on ecosan's vs the pour flush honey comb leach pits? Very intriguing!

Do you have any projects that are over 2 years old that are using the compost? Would love to hear about that!

Good luck
Gemma

pour flush choice

By Pure Water for the World Posted on Fri 30 Jul 2010, over 13 years ago

We have observed from the few single pit latrines we found that even after very hard rains there was no flooding problem with these latrines. The soil has low ground water level. We could also observe that after digging a 3 meters, we did not find any water infiltration.
As for the rivers being nearby, when we mentioned water by hose, it does not mean they use only one hose to transport the water, most of the water sources come from a source located up the hill or very far away from their houses, for instance one family uses 100 meters of hose to transport the water to their house instead of pvc pipe because of the price and flexibility of the hose.
They usually have a place where to store water in each house, some houses have cement tank, other have barrels, We would not construct a pour and flush latrine close to a river or in a place where they had no water.
The latrines have to be at least 50 meters from the nearest water source. The people in Trojes have accepted the pour and flush latrine because they have water in their homes as it is not as scarse as in sothern Honduras.

Regarding my opinion on the two types of latrines, both of them are good options and both of them require that you train people on the use and maintenance. The only difference is the criteria you use for implementing either one of them for instance in the ecosan is recommended in places where the water level is too high. Chambers have to be changed every 6 months and you have to pour lime or ashes every 8 days, to avoid bad odor. They also attract more insects. In the other hand we have already have experience and the acceptance of the communities with the one chaimber pour and flush latrines. This is just a new version of this latrine that they are giving good use and maintenance. Now in the pour and flush latrines the alternation of pits takes longer. This has to be done every 2 years. They do not have to do it every six month as in the ecosan.
It is a fact that in these communities, connections to larger sewage systems are a very remote possibility, however one of the advantages of the 2 septic tank pour and flush latrines is that they could be connected later to sewage system.
In my experience working in the Northcoast of Honduras I saw lots of the ecosan latrines abandoned because people did not have the time take out the compost when the 1 chaimber was filled and it became a greater problem than a solution.
Sorry, we cannot share the experience with you yet, We do not have a latrine project over 2 years old with a double pit chaimber.

Maria Regina Inestroza
Pure Water for the World
Central American Director

budget & sanitation

By El Porvenir Posted on Fri 30 Jul 2010, over 13 years ago

Looks like a great project, lots going on: water, sanitation, hygiene - a good complete WASH approach.

In the budget, there are some inconsistencies to the application:

1. Budget: 110 latrines, application 117
2. Budget: 441 people, application 662

Can you clarify the correct numbers?

On the sanitation, how do you do a latrine for $177? Great price! Are they installed in the home? Is it a single or double pit system?

Thanks,
Rob

budget & sanitation

By Pure Water for the World Posted on Fri 30 Jul 2010, over 13 years ago

You are right. Thank you for noticing the application mistake. The application has been corrected as the need is only for 110 latrines because 7 homes already have a latrines.

The number of beneficiaries is 662 according to the application. We made adjustments to the budget. It increases the total project budget but this will only affect the UNICEF portion.

Last year we worked with a higher price, because we were using different materials for the superstructure of the latrines. This year after evaluating the necessity and the request of many other communities in Trojes, we had to plan how to decrease the cost on the latrines
We talked to the different communities to propose the idea of building their own superstructure out of adobe brick and they agreed to it. We are going to use a double pit system. They are installed in each home; the home owner helps with the construction, and carrying local material.

Maria Regina Inestroza
Pure Water for the World
Central American Director

budget & sanitation

By El Porvenir Posted on Wed 04 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Thanks... Good stuff.

Any connection with the community agent program to the successful Circuit Rider program in Honduras?

Rob

budget & sanitation

By Pure Water for the World Posted on Fri 06 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

“The short answer is “no.” However, we do have regular contact with our Community Stewards. I am aware of the Circuit Rider program and like the concept as projects become bigger. This is something we would like to do when we have multiple project locations.

Carolyn Crowley Meub
Executive Director
Pure Water for the World

budget & sanitation

By El Porvenir Posted on Fri 06 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

We are looking at it as well, and hope to get their someday... Will be looking forward to hearing how it goes for you. Right now, we are in the same place as you with our train-the-trainer hygiene program.

Rob

budget & sanitation

By Pure Water for the World Posted on Sat 07 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Rob,

I will share our experiences with the Circuit Rider once we implement the program... may not be as soon as I would like.

Thank you for your obbservations.

Carolyn


Application Summary

Applicant :   Pure Water for the World
Status : approved_accepted
Country : HONDURAS Map

Funding

Amount Funded :   $25,000
Funded By:-
MSSCT : $25,000
Funds Used
: $25,000
Funds Available
: $0

Projects Summary of Application

Number of Projects : 1
Overall Start Date : TODO!
Overall Completion Date : TODO!
Date of Last Update : 2011-07-19