Drinking water and sanitation coverage at the national level is 92.5% and 91.4% respectively. However, the coverages are unequal in urban and rural areas, since in the latter one the drinking water coverage is 81.6% that represents an estimated population of 4.5 million Mexicans that lack this service.

Reducing the coverage gap in rural areas represents a major challenge, due to the high dispersion of houses, which makes it unfeasible to provide services to the most remote communities. Moreover, due to the conditions of the inhabitants of such areas, the conventional drinking water and sanitation service through pumps and pipes is often unsustainable because of the impossibility of the users for covering the systems’ operation costs.

PROCAPTAR represents an option for supplying water to people that lives in rural areas and need to travel long distances for having access to the vital liquid, as well as to improve their living and health conditions by giving them access to a sanitation system.

The objective of PROCAPTAR is to promote social development, water and sanitation access of most marginalized houses in rural areas through rainwater harvesting and storage, and wastewater treatment technologies at the household level.

PROCAPTAR arises from the need for supplying water to the Mexican population living in rural areas, where water supply through conventional forms (pumping systems, water supply network, etc.) is difficult due to technical and economic reasons. The program allows to supply water to people that currently do not count with the service and have to travel long distances for having access to the vital liquid.

The program considers a system for wastewater collection, treatment and disposal. It consists in a treatment system at the household level, with a biodigestor or a treatment reactor specially designed which will permit to dispose of wastewater properly, avoiding pollution of the environment that surrounds the house.

Through the formalization of the Technical Annex and the Execution Annexes signed with the federative entities, CONAGUA files the economic resources to be executed in the localities. With the support of the local or municipal authorities, the benefited community groups create an organizational figure that allows guaranteeing the adequate and sustainable in the long-term implementation of the program at the local level. The operators or water utilities that implement the resources are required a good social implementation and the training of the beneficiaries at the systems installation sites.

This type of systems allow to avoid the payment of the users to another entity that usually provides the water service.

Since 2016, The National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), an independent agency that measures poverty in Mexico, approved this type of services through rainwater and wastewater treatment to be considered as a non lacking service for water and sanitation at household level, this agency evaluates the social programs in Mexico.

The population attended is determined based on the physical inspection of the home to be benefited. It has to cover the minimum technical guidelines for guaranteeing the functionality of the system at the location, according to the technical documents: “Technical guidelines: Rainwater harvesting for supplying drinking water at the household level” and “Technical guidelines: Wastewater treatment system at the household level in rural areas”. Both documents establish the minimum requirements to guarantee the necessary water quantity and quality for the supply of the benefited inhabitants throughout the year.

The systems are installed at the houses and the beneficiaries receive assistance and training for their operation and maintenance. For this purpose, training manuals for the users are produced, including training manuals and training courses in indigenous languages, as applicable.

Between 2015 and 2017, 12,065 rainwater harvesting systems and 6,691 wastewater systems have been installed.

The National Water Commission has allocated financial resources to ensure PROCAPTAR continues to be available every year and more people benefits from the program, introducing the program directly in the official guidelines of the PROAGUA program, which is published every year in the Official Diary and involve actions in water and sanitation for rural and urban areas.

Before PROCAPTAR, rainwater harvesting and treatment at the household was not considered as a factor to reduce multidimensional poverty. However, thanks to CONAGUA´s work alongside the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), an independent agency that measures poverty in Mexico, rainwater harvesting and treatment at household level were recognised as factors for reducing multidimensional poverty in Mexico. This recognition has also facilitated the allocation of financial resources to PROCAPTAR as well as enhanced and supported efforts by civil society groups that are also working with similar systems.

CONAGUA has made a commitment to CENEVAL to design rainwater harvesting systems capable of delivering an average of 50 litres/person/day throughout the year.

The social attention component is a very important part to consider and develop during all the stages of the process. This implies getting involved with each community and establishing links that permit the dialogue so that the rainwater harvesting systems can be accepted by the community as main source of drinking water supply.

It is important to build the community’s and families’ ownership of the systems because the systems are installed inside their properties and the users are responsible for their appropriate use and maintenance. To support this, each community is trained in its own language (if they speak an indigenous language) and receive a detailed explanation on the operation and maintenance required by the systems. Furthermore, they receive a manual with text and illustrations for a better understanding of the information.

On the other side, during the planning phase, the main difficulty concentrates in selecting the localities that fulfill all the requirements and in prioritizing them in order to make an efficient use of the available resources.

In the design and construction phase, the challenge lies in the accommodation of the infrastructure inside the properties, due to the spaces and topographic conditions.

In order to reduce uncertainties and deal with the difficulties encountered, in 2016 studies for determining the technical, economic and social feasibility in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz were elaborated. The results of this studies provided data that allow better decision making regarding localities selection as well as to ensure the availability of adequate and sufficient places for building the systems.

PROCAPTAR is an inclusive and holistic project, which has a community development approach that engages all communities in a dialogue about water usage and disposal.

It is important to build the community’s and families’ ownership of the systems as they are installed inside their properties and they are responsible for their appropriate use and maintenance. Each community is trained in its own language (if they speak an indigenous language) and receive a detailed explanation on the operation and maintenance required by the system. Furthermore, they receive a manual with text and illustrations for a better understanding of the information.

The systems do not utilize electric power for their operation and maintenance. They are operated manually and the users provide the maintenance, after receiving training.

Operation and maintenance costs are practically null, because the technologies used permit self-maintenance with active involvement by the users.

The systems can be replicated in different communities, it is necessary only to make the required adjustments in each house.

The practice has been shared with Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, the United States, Germany, Japan and Holland, among other countries, in the course of different international events.

This program allows addressing in a specific manner part of the rural population with high levels of marginalization that lacks of water and sanitation services at the household level, having as potential attention universe a little more than 1.3 million inhabitants all over the country.

PROCAPTAR contributes to the family economy by eliminating the time spent in carrying water, which can be used in productive activities of women heads of families and for children educational activities. This leads to improving their quality of life and health and encourages gender equity. Moreover, PROCAPTAR beneficiaries do not need to make any payment to a water service provider and avoids the necessity of buying water.

CONAGUA official website: https://www.gob.mx/conagua

PROCAPTAR web site: https://www.gob.mx/conagua/acciones-y-programas/programa-nacional-para-captacion-de-agua-de-lluvia-y-ecotecnias-en-zonas-rurales-procaptar