{"id":26753,"date":"2016-02-04T10:14:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T13:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=26753"},"modified":"2019-08-04T07:32:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T10:32:22","slug":"rios-water-crisis-101-recent-meeting-provides-critical-context-on-water-sewerage-and-environmental-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=26753","title":{"rendered":"Rio’s Water Crisis 101: Meeting Provides Critical Context on Water, Sewerage, Environmental Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday February 2, experts, activists, and community members gathered for the Encontro das \u00c1guas<\/em> (Water Meeting) to discuss the water<\/a> crisis in Rio de Janeiro. Hosted by the group Se A Cidade Fosse Nossa<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(If the City Were Ours) in the Port Region’s<\/a>\u00a0historic S\u00e3o Francisco da Prainha Square, the afternoon event began with a workshop on collecting rainwater led by the group \u00c1guas de Mar\u00e7o<\/a>\u00a0(Waters of March), followed by a roundtable discussion between technical experts and citizens\u00a0concerning the condition of water in Rio de Janeiro, and the night ended with a water-themed carnival\u00a0street party Bloco das \u00c1guas. The event also featured a photography exhibit\u00a0of the\u00a0toxic mudslide disaster in Mariana<\/a> by Daniela Fichino of the NGO Global Justice.<\/p>\n

\u00c1guas de Mar\u00e7o is a Rio-based collective focused on building and sharing\u00a0low-cost rainwater collection technology. On Tuesday, representatives led an interactive workshop where they demonstrated their technology and some of the 25 attendees of this segment helped build a demo rainwater collection device, and \u201cgot their hands dirty,\u201d as one of the leaders of the workshop put it.<\/p>\n

Next, three water experts sat on an interactive panel attended by about 35 people. Environment researcher Flavia Braga Viera, sanitation engineer Stelberto Soares, who also used to work for state water utility\u00a0CEDAE<\/a>, and environmental education researcher J\u00falio Vitor gave short talks, eight community members responded, and the technical experts\u00a0gave responses and closing remarks.<\/p>\n

\"Rainwater<\/h3>\n

State of Rio’s Water<\/h3>\n

Flavia Braga Viera began the discussion with a call to end the commodification and monetization of water and a call to denounce the industrial consumption of water resources. She claimed that water distribution inequalities are a political concern rather than an environmental concern. She contextualized Rio\u2019s water crisis, saying that although the water shortage has only come to the attention of most Rio locals\u00a0in the past year, there has been a water problem for much longer.<\/p>\n

Flavia continued explaining that historically, water was used individually, with\u00a0each household fetching its\u00a0own water. Since industrialization, water has gone through the process of commodification and privatization, and it became \u201cblue gold, filled of economic value\u201d with price increases due to the economics of changing supply and demand caused by droughts. Everyone using treated water must pay for it or risk getting their water shut off, and there are some who cannot afford the price of water, despite water access being\u00a0a basic human right<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since some Rio residents\u00a0who can afford the higher prices of privatized water are experiencing water shortages for the first time due to weather conditions, public awareness of the problem is now growing, including recognition\u00a0that some areas have never received water access at all even in times of non-drought, citing regions within the Baixada Fluminense<\/a>. The current \u201ccrisis\u201d is only for people using privatized water. For those still using artisanal, individually sourced water, water access has always been irregular. Hence, Flavia said that water distribution is not an environmental problem but a socioeconomic one: any technical solutions are beneficial only in the short term; long term problems with water can only be solved politically.<\/p>\n

She noted the industrial usage of water and inefficiencies: “CEDAE loses about 40% of its\u00a0water input. Also, although industry loses a vast quantity of its water input, they pay less than individuals who use only a fraction of what industry uses. Turning off the faucet while brushing one\u2019s teeth or taking short showers is part of\u00a0the solution, but addressing large-scale inefficiencies is more beneficial for society.”<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

State of Sanitation in Rio<\/h3>\n

Stelberto Soares addressed some technical aspects contributing to the water crisis and sanitation in the city<\/a>. He began with the statistic that of the 86 water treatment areas in Barra de Tijuca<\/a>, only six function correctly. Historically, CEDAE treatment centers had a loss of 70% of their input, but today that number has decreased to about 30-37%, he said.<\/p>\n

Stelberto explained that the city of Rio de Janeiro sources its water from the Para\u00edba do Sul, the largest river in Rio\u00a0state, and from Minas Gerais state through a tunnel system. 40% of water in Rio de Janeiro is treated at the Guandu treatment plant, the biggest water treatment plant in the world. However, Guandu is losing fresh water due to contamination by sea water in a feedback cycle caused by the water shortage. CEDAE can\u2019t take as much water out of the Para\u00edba do Sul, consequently there is less fresh water ejected into the Guanabara Bay<\/a> by Guandu, so seawater encroaches more easily back into the plant.<\/p>\n

Next, Stalberto explained that water can be contaminated at\u00a0every step of the process from source to faucet. The tunnel systems, storage tank, and filter are all possible sources of contamination.<\/p>\n

Stelberto shared an alarming statistic about water treatment in the city: Rio de Janeiro collects 56% of its sewage, 86% of which is officially treated. However, that \u201c86%\u201d incorporates all official treatment centers, functioning or not, so in Barra da Tijuca where only six treatment areas actually function, the remaining 80 are counted officially, meaning that the percentage of sewage treated in Rio is radically lower.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the City\u2019s treatment strategy for sewage-polluted rivers misses the point, Stelberto says. When a river is contaminated with sewage from homes which aren\u2019t connected to an official treatment plant<\/a>, it all eventually runs into the ocean. To address this, the city has built multiple sewage treatment plants at the mouths of rivers. Stelberto instead recommends updating the infrastructure so sewage never makes it into the river in the first place.\u00a0In theory, the City has the capacity and responsibility to provide 200 liters per resident per day, which does not come to pass for some communities.<\/p>\n

\"Photography<\/p>\n

Critical Environmental Education<\/h3>\n

J\u00falio Vitor spoke next about the different types of environmental education<\/a>, claiming that \u201ccritical\u201d environmental education can address issues most effectively, repeatedly requesting that some favela residents who have excellent first-hand knowledge of water management be invited to the next water panel.<\/p>\n

The classic type of environmental education is \u201cconservationist\u201d education, which J\u00falio jokingly referred to as \u201ctree huggers.\u201d Students are taught that uninhabited wilderness must be preserved. J\u00falio cited one of his professors who criticizes NGOs operating under conservationist thought, who go into favelas teaching residents how to reduce their water use, even though those communities may not have dependable access to a water source, effectively telling people with no water that they have a responsibility to use less water.<\/p>\n

The next type of environmental education that J\u00falio touched on was \u201cpragmatist\u201d education, making ecological systems more efficient to increase their output.<\/p>\n

The last main type he discussed was \u201ccritical\u201d environmental education which has an ecological and social focus. For example, to answer the question \u201cwhy do some people have water and some don\u2019t?\u201d someone with a critical environmental education background would say the issue is not a technical question. The way society currently looks at the water crisis is wrong, he argued, and agreed with Flavia\u2019s argument that industrial use of water is more of an issue than even heavy personal use.<\/p>\n

J\u00falio talked about the community Morro da Formiga<\/a>, the favela where his research is based, and used them as an example of excellent community water management. To address their lack of municipal water access, they built their own water infrastructure<\/a> and manage it to this day with various Water Societies that meet weekly. They have strong community-based environmental education with local experts like Seu Francisco, head of a water society, and Amadeu Palmares da Silveira<\/a> who have learned from years of hands-on experience. J\u00falio called for the next panel to include favela residents like them.<\/p>\n

J\u00falio went on to explain\u00a0that some favela\u00a0communities in the West Zone<\/a> feel that their water is being taken and diverted to Barra da Tijuca<\/a>\u00a0and recognize the injustice. They work in neighborhoods like Barra where they see houses with swimming pools, yet they get criticized for deforesting and taking water from the forest to meet their basic needs, J\u00falio said. To tackle these issues, the environmental justice aspect of water shortage and sanitation must be addressed.<\/p>\n

At this time, the sun had set and a group of about 50 had gathered to listen to the wide range of community responses. One speaker called for activist\u00a0political groups to collaborate and fight for a solution. Another speaker proposed a more delicate community response, happily stating that \u201cwater has no problem at all, the problem with water is us.\u201d A notable speaker was Julieta, a young girl who expressed her unhappiness at seeing a polluted waterfall on a family vacation.<\/p>\n

The speakers gave closing remarks addressing the community responses, and the event turned into a carnival\u00a0bloco with a live band performing, closing\u00a0the first in a series of Se a Cidade Fosse Nossa<\/em> events related to the environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Tuesday February 2, experts, activists, and community members gathered for the Encontro das \u00c1guas (Water Meeting) to discuss the water crisis in Rio de Janeiro. Hosted by the group Se […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":26768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1290,1333,335,1282,329,452,1329],"tags":[460,225,371,756,258,842,474,385,531,25,203,3000,116,535,1939,373,1403,471,370,21],"writer":[1820],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-civilsociety","9":"category-event-reports","10":"category-policies","11":"category-research-analysis","12":"category-solutions","13":"category-rio20","14":"category-by-international-observers","15":"tag-baixada-fluminense","16":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","17":"tag-cedae","18":"tag-community-organizing","19":"tag-community-solution","20":"tag-debate","21":"tag-environment","22":"tag-environmental-education","23":"tag-guanabara-bay","24":"tag-human-rights","25":"tag-inequality","26":"tag-justica-global","27":"tag-morro-da-formiga","28":"tag-sanitation","29":"tag-se-a-cidade-fosse-nossa","30":"tag-sewerage","31":"tag-solution","32":"tag-sustainability","33":"tag-water","34":"tag-west-zone","35":"writer-claire-lepercq"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26753"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=26753"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=26753"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=26753"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=26753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}