public works

Sewage problems plague David

Residents in towns downwind of David´s sewage treatment pools complain of fetid odors

LA PRENSA

antiquated: David´s sewage system has not kept up with the city´s industrial, commercial and residential growth.1025525

Laura Pimentel can´t eat or sleep because of the intense odors that waft into her town from pools of sewage at David´s municipal wastewater treatment plant. Pimentel lives in one of three neighboring towns downwind of the plant. They are Villa Mercedes, Riviera and Reprato Universal face this problem.

When she bought her house three years ago, Pimentel never suspected that she was so close to the sewage treatment pools. The situation has gotten worse every year since then, she explained, and now, she feels it has reached a crisis point.

Pimentel has asked authorities to fix up and clean the pools´s containers, because she worries that the fetid air is detrimental to the health of nearby residents.

According to Guillermo Ardila of the Instituto Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan), the odors Pimentel described increase during the dry season, when water levels in the 96,418-cubic meter "lagoons" drop considerably as a result of evaporation. He said that rain is the greatest help in reducing odors, but since the winter rains haven´t arrived yet, the water levels remain low, intensifying the odors.

Ardila said that Idaan is planning a program to educate supermarket and restaurant staff about how to handle organic waste properly.

Part of the problem, too, is that David´s sewage systems has not kept up with the industrial, commercial and residential growth of the city.

Idaan authorities are studying the possibility of establishing additional "lagoons" in the area and reconditioning the existing pools. That could cost upwards of $1 million, although no official figures have been released yet.

Confronted with the residents´s complaints, the director of the Ministerio de Salud (Minsa), Federico Avila, said that Minsa will implement new odor-control measures at the plant. Constructing additional pools, he explained, is more complicated than people realize, since many health and environmental standards must be met.