Incremental Ecological Wastewater Treatment:
The Havana Prototype

Table of Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

Local Context

• Almendares Watershed

• Existing Mitigation Efforts

• The Metropolitan Park of Havana

• Particpatory Processes in Havana

• Cantarrana Neighborhood

• Community outreach efforts

Ecological Wastewater Overview

Ecological Treatment in Cantarrana

Concept Plan

Appendices

Bibliography

The Almendares Watershed and Havana’s Water Supply The Almendares-Vento watershed is 402 km2, the most prominent one within the Province of Havana. About half of the watershed’s total area is located within the city, while its southern headwaters lie outside the urban area, preserved for infiltration of water and aquifer recharge. Currently, the watershed is highly polluted due to lack of wastewater treatment, soil erosion, and deforestation. The Almendares and its tributaries carry large amounts of pollutants, germs, and bacteria from the sewers of between 150,000 and 200,000 people. Click for map of Havana

 

The park comprises a diverse population and a variety of land uses. The PMH is a unique entity — unlike the typical "green island" embodied by many city parks, it contains residences, industries, and agricultural uses within its boundaries. Currently, in fact, nearly 90% of the park area is not forested; however, PMH plans call for 80% to be devoted to forest, sustainable agriculture and gardens. The park houses approximately 42,700 residents who produce 13,000 m3/day of sewer effluent and 51 factories that produce an estimated 6,000 m3/day of contaminated water. It is important to note that even when fully implemented, the PMH will retain considerable residential and commercial uses within its boundaries, a fact that is not easily incorporated into traditional park/open space models. The PMH is centrally located in a pedestrian and bicycle oriented city, so there is need and opportunity to create integrated transportation, recreation and education facilities within the park. The master plan for the PMH calls for greater connections between the green spaces in the district (and the city in general) and the population centers. The plan will improve access for city residents through the creation of sixteen focus points throughout the city and better connections to other points of interest, such as the National Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Participatory Process in Havana The onset of Cuba’s "special period" in 1989 prompted many Cuban leaders to seek alternatives to the conventional capital-intensive, centrally planned, large-scale infrastructure projects that had only been possible through close economic ties with the Eastern Bloc. Partly in response to the drastic budget reductions of that period, the nation fell back on its own internal resources, relying on local expertise and involvement to generate incremental community-based solutions to broader environmental and infrastructural challenges. Lack of government financial resources has pushed Cubans toward a locally oriented provision of public services, placing more responsibility for implementation in the hands of neighborhoods and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assisting with neighborhood projects. Recently, the government and NGOs have sought to organize neighborhoods to plan and implement neighborhood-level projects, even in areas typically addressed at the city scale, such as garbage clean-up and waste treatment. GDIC has pioneered in this participatory community development effort in Cuba. Since 1989, GDIC has played a critical role in organizing neighborhoods, illustrated in their ongoing program, Talleres de Transformación. Grassroots efforts such as the talleres and longstanding local entities such as the Comités para la Defensa de la Revolución, or CDRs, promote the community organization necessary to develop and implement neighborhood-scale wastewater treatment options. Community participation is essential in the planning of these systems: local users of alternative sewage systems must be aware of their design characteristics and limitations, particularly because plants and animals present in such systems may be sensitive to the types and levels of waste filtered through the system. Moreover, wastewater treatment systems, both conventional and ecological, are generally heavily land-intensive, and are notorious for inducing community opposition or NIMBYism among nearby residents. For these reasons it is essential to involve the community and understand their priorities in the early stages of designing such a system. The success of any community-based small-scale wastewater system relies heavily on the involvement and support of local citizens. With those realities in mind, the UW team approached this studio project with three principal objectives. The first was to engage with Cantarrana’s residents in order to educate the students about the area, the population, and their issues. The second was to share insights into ecological wastewater treatment systems and to discuss the limitations and opportunities offered by various community-based alternatives. The third objective was to stimulate local interest in the development of one of these alternatives, assuming that there would be organizational and financial support for such a project in the future.

Cantarrana "Tierra de todos, tierra de nadie" Cantarrana is a small neighborhood of about 5 hectares and 1300 people (about 300 households) within the larger neighborhood of La Ceiba. The triangular neighborhood is located at the point where the Santoyo and Mordazo creeks join the Almendares River. Testament to its close proximity to so many waterways, the community is named for the vocal bullfrogs that live along its banks. The old railroad right of way forms Cantarrana’s southern boundary, with the Almendares River to the east and the Santoyo to the west. It is completely contained within the PMH.

Cantarrana is an economically depressed neighborhood heavily impacted by pollution and environmental degradation. The neighborhood is at the intersection of four municipalities (Cerro, Plaza, Playa and Marianao) which leaves it neglected when it comes to allocation of public resources. Many residents work in the factories located near or within the neighborhood: a gas factory, a CO2 factory, a paper plant, a tire factory, and two beer factories. There are several challenges. Interviews in Cantarrana consistently revealed that sustained resident participation, although essential, is not a straightforward matter. In general, residents are skeptical that their participation will actually improve their situation and are not particularly motivated to organize and take action.	Land Use Map of Cantarrana Click for full size image
A large portion of the local residents also work at the nearby factories, so the highly integrated interests of workers, residents, and the local environment may complicate efforts to improve water quality in the area. In addition, the primary school director expressed concern that school enrollment had declined in recent years, indicating a declining neighborhood population. Despite some of the local setbacks, the community exhibits several strengths. With regard to its population, residents are linked through a tight social fabric and an effective informal communication network. That local workers are also local residents may actually be an asset, because there is an explicit connection between impacts on worker safety, resident safety, and environmental protection. Cantarrana boasts several "informal leaders" interested in organizing programs within the neighborhood. In addition, there is significant interest in building stronger relationships between the community, the PMH and GDIC. With regard to local geography, there is significant open space along the Almendares and Santoyo waterways, offering various possibilities for small-scale infrastructure development.	Trash dumped in Santoyo Creek
Physical Characteristics Pollution and water contamination are major concerns to local residents. With industrial waste from nearby factories, the absence of sewage treatment, odor, air pollution from trucks and smokestacks, and solid waste accumulation along the rivers’ edges, pollution is indeed a big problem. Although the river is polluted and many local residents proclaim it to be "dead", people still live in very close proximity to the water’s edge and have a strong psychological connection to the river. Students observed several direct outfalls from households and industries to the river, which clearly contribute to further deterioration of the natural system. According to Prof. Coyula, it is problematic that most houses along the river are constructed to face the streets instead of the river. By turning its back on the natural and scenic resources offered by the river, Coyula says, people have less incentive to interact with it. Coyula points out that if people built their houses to face the rivers, they would be less likely to dump liquid and solid waste into the water. Local interviews revealed that although residents in Cantarrana are somewhat vague about connections between local practices and environmental impacts, most recognize that there the neighborhood faces serious environmental problems.	waste from rubber factory in ditch drains into river

Food and education at the primary school

At least two small environmental programs are currently in place in Cantarrana. The elementary school provides environmental education to all grades. Children learn about environmental conservation in regular classes, which include forest tours, a highly successful school vegetable garden, and ecology classes offered by the PMH. According to the local school director, the first group of students who received environmental education are still active in environmental programs in the secondary school. Based on informal interactions with children, the programs appear to have taught local children to recognize the environmental impacts of residential and industrial practices in the area.

The second local environmental project is a reuse and recycling program in the wider neighborhood of La Ceiba (which includes Cantarrana) that has had measured success in reducing solid waste dumping. This project integrates youth and community leadership in source-separation, generating limited economic development through the resale of recyclable materials. Currently, there is no formal park space in Cantarrana, though several areas serve as de facto open space. The railroad trestle which crosses the Santoyo is in an advanced state of disrepair, but the old railroad right of way is still a major pedestrian and bicycle route. In addition, there are generous tracts of green space along the creeks and river, presumably within the river’s floodplain: residents use these areas for informal agriculture and grazing for small livestock. The study team witnessed children playing along the riverbanks. A visible impact, there are also quanitities of solid waste dumped by local residents and carried downstream when the water rises. The Tropical, one of the local beer factories directly across the river, maintains an expansive property with huge fig trees that line the river, creating a shady, parklike atmosphere. The beer garden is a popular destination for Havana youth, and it is known as a magnet for local dancing talent. In addition, a local resident who has lived beside the Santoyo Creek for decades noted that there was once a proposed paved patio recreation area along the canal designed to prevent the illegal dumping of garbage in front of her house. Are we sure about this? Patio is a grassy yard, usually private. Who proposed it, and who was it to serve? Many of the open spaces directly adjacent to waterways have potential to raise awareness of the importance of protecting water quality. There is a persistent and significant need for additional housing in the area; much of the existing stock requires substantial repair and there are several squatter settlements in the vicinity, the largest of which are located north of the old rail line, along the east bank of the Almendares and to the east of the Mordazo Creek. Residents have constructed these settlements from salvaged materials, particularly corrugated metal and scrap wood. Many residences have substandard facilities which could potentially be harmful to human health, especially where the population is in such close proximity to the waterways. GDIC staff indicated that the Cuban government in the process of constructing new housing and gradually moving the residents from the temporary settlements. While such programs have apparently met with some success, new housing falls far short of the demand. This makes it very difficult to raze existing housing, regardless of its quality or location.

Community Outreach in Cantarrana The UW team’s community outreach strategy evolved through stages of information gathering. Over the course of several days, students undertook field studies to familiarize themselves with the physical and cultural context of Cantarrana. Efforts included: walking tours of the neighborhood, formal and informal discussions with local residents and workers, factory tours, infrastructure mapping and open space and land use surveys. Toward the end of the study, we called and conducted a public meeting, held entirely in Spanish, in order to report initial findings and generate feedback on wastewater treatment options appropriate for the neighborhood. The neighborhood outreach efforts facilitated an educational and interpersonal exchange that successfully informed the study, and students hope that it also provided some useful insights for GDIC, the PMH, and the neighborhood of Cantarrana.

A tidy marginal housing settlement south of Cantarrana

Public Meeting The climax of the field study was a community meeting in Cantarrana, held at the Emiliano Zapata primary school on April 6, 2000. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to initiate a discussion of waste treatment options, for local people to react to the initial formulation of alternatives, and to develop relationships between Cantarrana residents and representatives from PMH and GDIC. The nearly forty adults and children attending the meeting were a significant turnout for this community, likely indicating a combination of a strong interest in water quality and wastewater treatment alternatives and a general curiosity about what the group of foreign students had been investigating over the past several days. However, judging by the positive response offered by residents during the meeting, there appears to be general support for further dialogue about locally feasible wastewater management options.

In the public meeting, a revealed preference exercise helped the study team to understand residents’ views about which attributes would be most important in the design of an ecological wastewater treatment system. Judging from participants’ response, the highest prioritized issues were improved hygiene and decreased odor, which is not surprising considering that both are day-to-day issues that are currently of concern in the neighborhood. Second-tier concerns reflect an interest in enhancing scenic values and expanding opportunities for learning and recreation. The lowest prioritized issue was the recycling of nutrients. The lack of interest here may be due to a limited understanding of the benefits of such a resource or a general concern about the safety of using human wastes as fertilizer. In either case, there is apparently a need for further education and demonstration if such a program is to be accepted by the local population.

A CUI representative raised a crucial issue: it is important for an ecological wastewater project to be very clear in its intent to provide concrete and tangible benefits to the community. Over the course of the meeting, participants raised a variety of issues. Some shared stories about their love for the river, concern for its contamination and earnest hope for its improvement. Longtime residents recalled fishing and swimming in the river and canals, and many expressed a hope that the river and creeks might be restored to their previous state. Meeting participants raised several important issues about wastewater treatment, reflecting their own concerns and areas in which project proponents should concentrate their attention and future educational efforts: Differences between alternative wastewater treatment systems and conventional sewage plants and benefits inherent in each Real possibilities of implementing alternative wastewater treatment in Cantarrana Evidence of implementation of such systems in other place Level of community participation necessary to achieve such a system Environmental integrity of alternative wastewater systems and their byproducts Budget for cleaning up the river These are critical issues to be addressed in the development of an ecological wastewater system. Subsequent sections of this document deal with these issues in more detail, with the intention of integrating community concerns with the overall development of the system.

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