Riverine populations that dwell in flooded forests (várzea) require suitable solutions for sanitation. An experimental project was started in 1998, using double-vault toilets in seasonally flooded houses in the Brazilian Amazon. The objective was to improve the health of inhabitants using adequate sanitation technology and health education. The focus of the present study was the assessment of that intervention. We compiled information from reports, local assessments, and interviews with users. In 2012, 14 years after the beginning of the project, 44% of the double-vault toilets were still in use. The main benefits noticed were awareness of the importance of toilets for reducing outdoor human waste and providing comfort, privacy, and safety for families. The sanitation project succeeded in reducing open defecation and raised the interest and demand for toilets. However, there is still a need for improving the construction of toilets and to better adapt them to flooded environments. We also include suggestions for improving the toilets and their use in flooded areas.
The variation in water level in the Amazon várzea promotes cyclical isolation or union of various bodies of water. Among these, lakes and channels are the most relevant. Due to their cyclical geographic isolation, and even due to the often distinct origin of their waters, these environments showed limnological features which also vary from those bodies of water located outside the várzea setting. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the differentiation of the types of water bodies present in the Middle Solimões area, inside and outside of the floodplain areas, by segregating their main physical and chemical parameters. It also aims to evaluate the influence of the flood pulse on these parameters in these types of bodies of water. In order to do this, expeditions were conducted monthly from 2004 to 2011, at twelve sampling stations located in different types of water bodies, including canals and lakes within the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, the Solimões River and the mouth of the Tefé River. The parameters monitored were electrical conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation, pH and transparency. To analyze the data obtained from this monitoring, descriptive statistics and clustering were used. The temperature of the bodies of water in the Mamirauá RDS showed mean values ranging between 27.1 and 30.8 ° C. Dissolved oxygen concentrations resulted in average concentrations of from 0.3 to 0.6 mg.L-1, with a high standard deviation. Transparency was between 0.4 and 1.6 m. Electrical conductivity ranged between 87 and 204 μS.cm-1 in white waters and 10 -21 μS.cm-1 in black/mixed waters of the mouth of the Tefé River. From the groupings obtained, it was possible to state that the lakes behave like independent bodies of water in the daught season, and during the season of high water they form a large grouping, suggesting a greater homogenization. An analysis of principal components with the parameters confirmed their relevance in the structuring of groups or types of bodies of water identified in the region. The pH distinguished itself as the main differentiating factor between white and black waters, followed by water transparency. Electrical conductivity was the main parameter responsible for the differentiation of water in different periods of the hydrological cycle, followed by water transparency. The variation in water level during the hydrological cycles evaluated over seven years of monitoring influenced the water quality in the lakes and canals of Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve and the Solimões and Tefé Rivers. The parameters transparency, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity varied more markedly between the periods of draught and high water.
Urine Diverting Dry Toilets (uddt) provide a technological alternative for the challenging environments found in Amazonia, and have the advantage of not consuming water. To verify their viability, however, it is necessary to understand users' behavior in relation to the use of toilets' byproducts. The objective of the present study was to evaluate farmers' perceptions of the use of human urine as a fertilizer for agricultural crops in Central Amazon. We interviewed 73 smallholder farmers from a rural village in Tefé County and in the municipal farmers' market of Tefé. It was verified that 12% of farmers have knowledge of the use of human urine in agriculture, and that more than a third consider it possible to use urine in their gardens and fields. However, more than half did not consider the possibility of using urine, manifesting concerns about crop development and doubts regarding the efficacy of its use as a fertilizer. The informants believed that crops watered with urine would be adequate for human consumption. It is possible to conclude that human urine has the potential to be used in agriculture in the study region and we understand that dry toilets should not be taken as the only alternative for sanitation in Amazon.
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