The approach to sustainability, particularly with regard to water, requires a global vision. The United Nations' Agenda 2030 also calls for a commitment of societies with more resources to the communities most in need: in particular, access to drinking water today is not a universally guaranteed right.
This is why Acque Bresciane and Fondazione Sipec have been allied since December 2020 to bring safe water to more than 15,000 children in Brazil, where 25% of rural schools have no sewers and 20% have no drinking water
The three-year "Wash in School 36" project aims to improve sanitary conditions in 36 municipal schools in Anapolis (Brazil): actors in the agreement Acque Bresciane and Fondazione Sipec. A bridge between Brescia and Brazil in the name of a scarce and strategic resource such as water.
The link between the Brescia area and Brazil has been Carmencita Tonelini, who has a PhD in Engineering in Appropriate Methodologies and Techniques in International Development Cooperation (DICACIM) from the University of Brescia at CeTAmb LAB and is president of the NGO 4 Elementos. In Anapolis, thanks to the Sipec Foundation, she set up a system to treat waste water in a rural school where heavy contamination of the water by Escherichia coli had emerged. The choice fell on an evapotranspiration basin, an impermeable tank that represents an environmentally friendly and low-cost technology. The system makes it possible to treat waste water, recycle water and, thanks to 'good' bacteria, produce micronutrients for the plants that are grown above the reservoir, in this case banana trees that also produce food. In 2018/2019, the Wash project affected 12 schools in Anapolis and the latest analyses have shown that contamination, which at the start of the project affected 58% of the sites, has been reduced to zero.
Further steps see Acque Bresciane involved in financing the work of an environmental educator, in educating children through three comic strips (on the topics of water, waste and hygiene) and other materials, in supplying dispensers and soap, but also in the technical field, with the creation of an app that allows monitoring of the filter management system. Together with the Sipec Foundation, Acque Bresciane will work on the restoration of three springs, carrying out a feasibility study, an awareness-raising campaign and the planting of 1,500 trees, as well as the production of video material.
Partners in the initiative include, in addition to the NGO 4 Elementos, the Prefecture of Anapolis, the Cetamb LAB of the University of Brescia, Studio architectura Viva, the State University of Goias, the Federal Institute of Goiás, the Metalworkers' Union of Anapolis and Aqualit saneamento.
