Combinando el saneamiento con alcantarillado y sin alcantarillado en Montero, Bolivia

The report evaluates four sanitation configurations in Montero, Bolivia, finding that while the city's utility cooperative COSMOL successfully manages a mix of centralized and decentralized systems, significant gaps in governance, technical optimization, and public awareness persist. It highlights that urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDTs) offer the highest environmental potential and that local farmers are open to using treated sanitation by-products as fertilizers, provided quality and price are managed. However, household adoption of non-sewered systems is hindered by perceptions of odors and a view of such technologies as merely transitional.

• Montero utilizes a mixed sanitation approach managed by the cooperative COSMOL, where 36% of the population is connected to a centralized sewer system with stabilization ponds, while nearly two-thirds use septic tanks or other in situ systems. Approximately 1% of the population uses urine-diverting dry toilets (SSSOs).
• A sustainability assessment of four technical configurations revealed that all current systems have sustainability issues, primarily environmental risks due to nutrient and organic matter discharge for non-sewered systems, and economic/affordability challenges for the centralized system. However, low-cost optimizations—such as adding inlet screens, improving sludge treatment, and disconnecting roof drainage—can significantly improve health and environmental outcomes across all four systems.
• Urine-diverting dry toilets (SSSOs) are identified as the technology with the greatest potential to reduce environmental impact, provided that urine and feces are collected and treated for reuse. Despite this, households often view them as transitional solutions due to concerns over odors and pests, preferring sewered systems for their ease of maintenance and lack of smell.
• There is a promising demand among local farmers for fertilizers derived from sanitation waste, with the highest interest in treated sludge from wastewater treatment plants (PTAR) and treated wastewater for irrigation. While farmers show little concern regarding health or market impacts, there is a critical need for quality standards and awareness campaigns regarding the safe handling of pathogens.
• Montero's governance capacity for expanding in situ sanitation is rated as moderate. Key facilitators include a strong sense of urgency within COSMOL and a willingness to collaborate among stakeholders. However, major barriers include a lack of formal policy instruments, short-term political vision, and a legal framework that does not grant non-sewered systems the same status as sewered ones, limiting public investment.

APA

Liera, C., García, M., Andersson, K., & Kvarnström, E. (2022). Combinando el saneamiento con alcantarillado y sin alcantarillado en Montero, Bolivia. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220323a-liera-montero-sewage-spanish-2203h.pdf

Chicago

Liera, Carla, Mónica García, Kim Andersson, and Elisabeth Kvarnström. Combinando el saneamiento con alcantarillado y sin alcantarillado en Montero, Bolivia. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220323a-liera-montero-sewage-spanish-2203h.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Liera |first1=Carla |last2=García |first2=Mónica |last3=Andersson |first3=Kim |last4=Kvarnström |first4=Elisabeth |title=Combinando el saneamiento con alcantarillado y sin alcantarillado en Montero, Bolivia |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220323a-liera-montero-sewage-spanish-2203h.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{liera2022combinando, author = {Liera, Carla and García, Mónica and Andersson, Kim and Kvarnström, Elisabeth}, title = {{Combinando el saneamiento con alcantarillado y sin alcantarillado en Montero, Bolivia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220323a-liera-montero-sewage-spanish-2203h.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }