Poor Brazilian Neighborhood Builds Own Waste Treatment System

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Poor Brazilian Neighborhood Builds Own Waste Treatment System

A poor neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has independently built a system to process waste in an effort to make the area healthier.

Supporters say the system could serve as a model for small communities across Brazil.

The Enchanted¹ Valley community just outside Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca Forest National Park recently built its own waste treatment system.

The Enchanted Valley is one of Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighborhoods. The Brazilian word for such a neighborhood is favela.

The area did not have electricity until the late 1900s. And Enchanted Valley had never been connected to the city's sewage network. Waste was polluting the local environment and putting the health of those who live in Enchanted Valley at risk.

As a result, the community set out to solve the problem on its own. It built a local waste treatment system called a biodigester. An artificial wetland was built to process the sewage created by all of the area's 40 families.

Theresa Williamson heads Catalytic Communities, a nonprofit group that supports poor communities. She said the system started full operations in June, and it is the first independently built biosystem for a favela in Brazil.

Official data says 45 percent of Brazilians' sewage is not collected.

The Enchanted Valley project took years to complete. Otávio Barros is president of a group representing the local people. He got the idea to build a sewage system when he brought a group of tourists to a nearby waterfall in 2007. They wanted to get in the water, but he told them they could not. He knew all of the community's sewage flowed down the waterfall.

Then, Barros started to look for support to build a waste treatment system. He found allies³ among researchers of Pontifical⁴ Catholic⁵ University of Rio de Janeiro. He had been working there as an administrative⁶ assistant.

He told the Associated Press, "It was harder back then to make people aware, show that everyone would benefit."

He and his allies secured money from the State of Rio de Janeiro. That research support led to completion of the first step in 2015. The effort also received financial support from German and Brazilian nonprofit groups Viva Con² Agua and Instituto Clima e Sociedade to connect every home. And it received additional money from Catalytic Communities.

Barros worked with five other local people from the neighborhood for months, including three weeks of breaking through rock to set down pipes.

The pipes lead to the biodigester. Sewage is processed there by microorganisms that do not require oxygen. Remaining fluids then flow underneath⁷ the artificial wetlands, getting cleansed⁸ by fertilizing⁹ the plants above.

The full price of the system was about $42,300. That is one fourth of what it would have cost to place pipes through the forest to the existing sewage network at sea level, said Leonardo Adler. He is founding partner of Taboa Engenharia, which supervised¹⁰ the technical part of the work.

The federal government has a plan to improve sewage treatment throughout Brazil. It plans to do that through private concessions¹¹ of large areas in cities. But that plan does not help small, distant communities like Enchanted Valley.

Barros said he is very happy because it was a very difficult step to bring in partners and "involve the community to capture the sewage and return it to the environment clean." He said, "It's part of a dream becoming reality," and added, "We have others for the Valley."

Words in This Story

sewage – n. waste material (such as human urine and feces) that is carried away from homes and other buildings in a system of pipes

artificial –adj. created or caused by people and not by nature

tourist – n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

aware – adj. knowing that something (such as a situation, condition, or problem) exists

benefit – v. to be helped

concessions – n. the right to sell something or do business on property that belongs to the government or to another company or person

reality – n. the true situation that exists

1 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

2 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

4 pontifical   

adj.自以为是的，武断的

参考例句：

• His words criticizing modern society just right indicate his pontifical character.他用以批评现代社会的言论恰好反映了他自大武断的性格。
• The lawyer,with pontifical gravity,sat on a high chair.那律师摆出一副威严庄重的样子，坐在一把高脚椅上。

5 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

6 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

8 cleansed   

弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。
• The notorious Hell Row was burned down in a fire, and much dirt was cleansed away. 臭名远场的阎王路已在一场大火中化为乌有，许多焦土灰烬被清除一空。

9 fertilizing   

v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Sometimes the preliminary step must be taken of reducing weed population before fertilizing. 有时候，在施肥之前，必须采取减少杂草密度的预备性步骤。 来自辞典例句
• The self fertilizing garden can also be planted in raised beds. 自我施肥的菜园也可以在苗圃床中种植。 来自互联网

10 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

11 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。