Banheiro ecológico ribeirinho: saneamento descentralizado para comunidades de várzea na Amazônia.

The biological contamination of the water is a serious problem in the Amazon rainforest, which has environmental and public health implications. Thus, this problem is a consequence of the precarious government planning of basic sanitation infrastructure in rural communities and cities. The distances between the residencies in the rural areas make difficult the adoption of centralized systems of collection and sewage treatment. In this context, the dry ecological toilet is an alternative option for decentralized sanitation. However, the prototype developed and implanted in other regions of the country is not appropriate to the characteristics of the Amazon riverside areas, which has periodic flooding, associated to rainy season cycle and the daily tidal flux. In this paper, we discuss the relevancy of the problem and present a proposal to adapt the ecological dry toilet to these areas. Te potentialities of the riverside ecological toilet (BER), as a social technology of decentralized sanitation, are discussed based on monitoring of parameters -- such as odor and the presence of insects -- and of evaluation of subjective and behavioral aspects such as welfare, environmental conscience. These evaluations started with the installation of a prototype at Ilha das Onças, State of Pará, Brazil. We also observe a detailed description of the construction project, including the materials that were used and the cost of the prototype of the riverside ecological toilet. The information are sufficient for replication of this social technology and be useful to encourage new adaptations and improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]