Pilot reservoir gains recognition

International Training on Ecohealth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- Environmental Pollution Assessment and Management has recognized the Urban Harvest pilot reservoir project in Lima, Peru.  Ecohealth Program helps researchers build the capacity to design and carry out transdisciplinary and participatory research, whilst engaging multiple stakeholders and addressing gender and social equity analysis.   

May 13, of this year Urban Harvest and Pan-American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Science (CEPIS) inaugurated a backyard reservoir on a local family farm.  The backyard reservoir aims to help improve human health, the natural environment and household income by reducing contaminants in irrigation water, whilst providing a location for raising fish. The pilot study will also evaluate the nutritional value of the treated water compared with polluted water from the Rimac River.  This will be determined by comparing the effect on vegetables irrigated with the treated and untreated water.  Furthermore, the fish provide the household with nutritional food for consumption and extra income by selling the excess fish, contribute in keeping the reservoir clean of aquatic flora whilst their droppings provide a supplement of nutrients to the soils irrigated with the reservoir water. This is a clear example of how trandisciplinary the reservoir is in contributing to poverty alleviation, nutritional health and ecosystem health.

The researchers involved in the reservoir study have been invited to attend workshops in Rio de Janeiro to share their experiences and learn from research studies.