mia.rios@diariogestion.com.peThrough the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, on July 28, 2010, access to water and sanitation services was recognized as a human right.Three years later, the UN declared November 19 as World Toilet Day.However, despite the efforts of governments, organizations and institutions to improve the sanitation index, the water supply per person for personal or domestic use is still insufficient."Around 10 million Peruvians do not have access to adequate sanitation. In Lima alone, 2 million people do not have access to adequate sanitation and use a silo. Another 950,000 people do not have water," says Raúl Briceño, CEO of X -runner Venture.What is the proposal?X-runner Venture has developed the portable dry toilet, which has already been installed in 900 homes in Lima Sur, located mainly in Pamplona Alta and San Juan de Miraflores;which has benefited more than 4,500 people.These toilets, from Sweden, separate urine from feces."In the toilet, the feces fall into a separate container and a handful of sawdust that we provide is poured; this will dehydrate the feces, eliminating bad odors, insects, and diseases. For this, families make a monthly payment of S/ 39 and each The waste is collected every week and the sawdust is delivered to them," explains Briceño.The waste is sent to a treatment center in Villa El Salvador, which has more than 1,000 m2."Every week the bucket full of feces is exchanged with the families for a new biodegradable bag and sawdust, which are deposited in our collection truck.""This solution is very practical and can be used until a sewage system is implemented. Having a silo can not only become a source of infection, but also weakens the floor of the house", says the CEO of X-runner Venture .How are they financed?The company, which is made up of 19 people, seeks to make this initiative sustainable in the coming years and thus be able to offer the service in the interior of the country."We have not yet received financing from the private sector, but we have from foreign organizations. The resources for having won in Innóvate and Startup Peru have also allowed that the value to families for the service is not greater. However, we have already enabled in donations option on our website. This will allow us to somehow subsidize the cost of the toilet, as well as the waste collection service," highlights Briceño.According to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), approximately 60% of the world's population, some 4.5 billion people, do not have toilets in their homes or have poor sanitation systems.More data - Some 892 million people defecate in the open and do not have access to any toilet.That is, human feces, on a large scale, are not collected or treated.- A third of schools worldwide do not provide toilets, a problem especially for girls when they have menstruation.- 80% of the wastewater generated by the world's population returns to the environment without being treated or reused.- X-runner, together with 5 other organizations in the world, form the global alliance Container Based Sanitation Alliance, which is considered a pioneer project of non-conventional sustainable sanitation worldwide.