Water friendly toilets

Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow Juan Carlos Calizaya Luna designs and installs innovative and environmentally friendly sanitation systems that give low-income communities the ability to manage their waste in a way that is beneficial for the environment, health in a model that even increases their wealth. Sensitive to each individual's ability to pay, Juan’s model allows families to opt for a basic dry toilet which separates and recycles liquid and solid waste, or to install additional components such as a filter that cleans gray water, or even convert the gray water into clean water which is later available to the community to irrigate public parks and gardens.  The gray water can also be used in urban agriculture projects as fertilizer to enrich soil.  The five pilot communities in which Juan Carlos is working are now equipped with waste management systems for one-third of the cost of traditional water and sanitation systems. Juan Carlos also lobbies other engineers and politicians to adapt and further develop his pioneering waste management programs. 

Lima, Peru's capital, is one of the world’s driest urban areas with growing numbers of low-income neighborhoods that don't have access to running water. Juan Carlos's new approach to sustainable waste management saves 50% of typical urban water consumption, and most importantly, it involves local citizens in development and financing to ensure sustainability. In a city where a growing population is putting tremendous pressure on an already failing system of water and waste management, innovative thinking is necessary to prevent a health crisis of drastic proportions.  The variety of waste management options that Juan provides to individual families and communities not only save the water wasted by a traditional waste management system, but also allow communities to increase efficiency in their urban agriculture projects and further decrease water consumption.

By 2025, human geographers predict that roughly 48 countries will face water deficits that will severely affect not only Peru but countries like India, Kenya and Nigeria. Juan Carlos’s solutions are working to improve waste management and to provide access to water for segments of Peru’s population that are powerless to do so otherwise. Juan Carlos is addressing a pressing global challenge and successfully creating solutions that both empower local communities and inspire hope for the future.