Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla

Water for Humans will implement its first project in Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla in the Oaxaca Valley just outside of Oaxaca City, Mexico. 
Our objective is to eliminate the raw sewage currently flowing from the defunct wastewater treatment plant in Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla downhill to Guadalupe Etla. To accomplish this we will design and build a constructed wetland for sewage treatment in Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla. 

The effluent from the wetland will be safe to release into the environment. We are partnering with a local internationally recognized NGO, Instituto de la Naturaleza y la Sociedad de Oaxaca (INSO), to help with the project especially at times when we are not in Mexico. 
Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla and Guadalupe Etla will see the following improvements from this project:

  • Eradication of many of the contamination-caused health issues in both communities
  • Reopening of the road between Santo Domingo and Guadalupe Etla (closed after raw sewage began flowing down the road in 2000)
  • Elimination of the illegal dump site in Santo Domingo
  • Introduction of an alternative method of dealing with black water and gray water
  • Facilitation of partnerships within Mexico to work towards a common goal
  • Development of a model that communities throughout the world study and emulate

Primary Activities

  • Collaboration with our partner organizations in Oaxaca: Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO), Instituto de la Naturaleza y la Sociedad de Oaxaca (INSO), local Rotary International chapters, El Foro Oaxaqueño del Agua, Guadelupe Etla, Santo Domingo Barrio Bajo Etla, State and Federal government officials and the Department of Health
  • Coordination with other international organizations to further develop our local network and relationships: ProMexico Service Corps, Action in Sustainability and Rotary International

Our ultimate dream is for this watershed project to be a model that the rest of the world can study and emulate to manage its watersheds sustainably.