In the last week, another stage of the Rio do Peixe Vivo Project was carried out. The result of a partnership between the City Hall and the Institute of Socio-Environmental Projects and Research – IPESA, the project was sponsored by the company 1A99 and aims to disseminate water management techniques and low-cost ecological solutions for the treatment of sewage in rural properties.

With the support of the Copaíba Environmentalist Association, the course was given by Guilherme Castagna, a specialist in ecological sanitation systems, and by Paola Samora, director of IPESA. In all, about 40 participants were able to hear about alternative forms of sewage treatment and its reuse, in the form of stabilized and contaminant-free humus, to promote soil fertility.

Participants were able to get to know the vermifilter and the circle of banana trees, implemented at Copaíba's headquarters and which treat sewage and water from sinks and showers, respectively. After the theoretical explanation, it was time to literally get our hands dirty, building, in a collective and participatory way, under the supervision of the course coordinators, a masonry biodigester, which is a system that, in addition to properly treating domestic sewage, reuses the gases produced in the system.

In addition to disseminating financially viable ecological sewage treatment systems, the course was intended to train local labor for the implementation of these systems. “Sewage can be an important source of income for the producer.

''We have to break this paradigm and change our view on this issue. There are low-cost treatment technologies that may well be adopted and, in addition, generate income for producers. Sewage is, above all, a rich source of nutrients for the soil, as long as it is properly treated” – informs the Secretary of the Environment, Tiago Sartori.

“We are talking with IPESA and studying the realization of new formations” – concludes the secretary.

At the end of the course, a conversation circle was held where the participants explained about their experience and exchanged knowledge. The sanitation systems covered in the course and others are described in the Practical Guide to Water Management – 3rd Edition.

Rio do Peixe Vivo”, available for free access on the official website of the Secretary of the Environment: https://meioambiente.socorro.sp.gov.br/publicacoes/guia-pratico-manejo-da-agua.

Text by:
Socorro City Hall
30/08/2022