Samarco delivered Natural Wastewater Treatment Plants (ETNs) to 18 households in Camargos, in Mariana (MG), last Friday (Apr-5). In an innovative manner, the initiative brings basic sanitation to 30% of the district's households and was developed in partnership with Mariana City Hall and the startup Lia Marinha, which will be responsible for collecting and monitoring water quality on a monthly basis. Approximately 50 people participated in the meeting, which was attended by the Undersecretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Mariana, Cibele de Aguiar Neiva, the representative of the Autonomous Water and Sewage Service (SAAE), Valdeci Fernandes, and the chairman of the Resident Association, Eduardo Adriano Silva.
In response to community demands, work on the Camargos water pipeline was also inaugurated. The interventions were carried out by Mariana City Hall with investments made available by Samarco to SAAE, benefiting 54 households and leading to improvements in the water supply system. Since the system was implemented, there has been no water shortage in the community.
“Innovation must lead Samarco’s actions, creating sustainable value for the company and stakeholders. In this Proof of Concept we had the opportunity to seek an innovative, decentralized and personalized solution to address an important challenge for the population of the Camargos district, which is access to basic sanitation, impacting people's quality of life, in accordance with our purpose of sharing value with the territories where we operate”, highlighted Innovation leader Alessandra Prata, who represented Samarco, together with the Socio-institutional manager, Roberto Guimarães, and the expert in Socio-institutional Development and leader of the initiative for the company, Guilherme Louzada.
"Concern about water pollution and its consequences for public health has driven the search for wastewater treatment alternatives that are efficient and ecologically responsible. We believe that the bioremediation sewage treatment system arises as this environmentally correct and sustainable approach. In this regard, community engagement to provide the treatment of wastewater is crucial in this process, as it will directly benefit from the improvement of water quality and the preservation of the environment", highlighted the Undersecretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Mariana, Cibele de Aguiar Neiva, who represented the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment, Anderson Silva de Aguilar.
The project, developed by Samarco, based on the Mining Hub's M-Impact program. It was presented to residents before implementation. Households were selected according to their interest in implementing the system and technical feasibility. The initiative aims at providing access to sanitation and water security, and consists of a decentralized solution, with collaborative management as a differentiator and allowing personalized service for each household, as an alternative to the model of larger, centralized treatment stations.
The data collected about water and sewage will be made available on a collaborative digital platform “OlhaÁgua”, at https://olhaagua.com.br/, which allows the recording of incidents,
making actions more accurate and targeted, in addition to encouraging communication among residents, providing more transparency to the process.
Announcement about deliveries of treatment plants - Photo: Helen Perucci
