Sanitation Does Not End at the Household: Waste Conveyance and Treatment While the expansion of sanitation loans in the financial sector in some parts of LAC has been primarily targeted toward household infrastructure, sanitation does not end with a household acquiring a toilet or latrine (see Sanitation Value Chain diagram further below illustrating the entire sanitation chain for on-site sanitation systems). Proper sanitation also involves appropriate conveyance (if not being treated on-site) and treatment of wastewater and fecal sludge.
Figure 3: Sanitation Value Chain for on-site sanitation systems (image courtesy of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
In many LAC urban centers, household wastewater is conveyed to treatment plants via sewer networks. These networks and treatment facilities are usually publicly run (or privately run in a concession arrangement), usually supported through a mix of subsidies and household tariffs often included within billing for water service provision.32 In instances where the private sector plays a role in wastewater collection and/or treatment, it is usually through construction of initial infrastructure, expansion or rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, or through a concession in which a private company is managing wastewater collection and treatment services under a specified arrangement with the government. In many cases in urban areas, there is some level of public subsidization of sewer networks and if the private sector is involved, the local government or public entity responsible for managing wastewater services is the primary client, representing the collective of household consumers. There are opportunities for private sector involvement in wastewater collection and treatment in peri-urban areas where existing sewerage infrastructure has yet to reach certain households, and potentially in rural areas under more decentralized but off-site treatment models. In some cases, such as ecological sanitation models where the household manages their sanitation facility properly, there should not be any need for waste collection or off-site treatment given that all treatment should be occurring within the ecological toilet itself. In some cases, depending on space availability, pit linings and potential for groundwater or other soil contamination, pit latrines could also be safely managed by simply covering the pit and building a new latrine over a pit in a different location. Similar to ecological sanitation, any
32 Subsidization of waste collection and treatment is often seen as less market-distortive given that subsidization of public goods is usually seen as more justifiable. Within the sanitation value chain, household sanitation infrastructure is arguably, and relatively, more of a private good, while waste collection and treatment is seen as more of a public good or service. As such, there is often more justification for government involvement through subsidies or other support mechanisms for waste collection and treatment than for financing household-level infrastructure such as bathrooms, toilets, etc. In urban sewer networks, household tariffs often go to supporting ongoing operation and maintenance expenses, while government subsidies are usually allocated to support larger-scale capital and rehabilitation expenses.
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