But like most people, he had one little hang-up. I kept asking Mark. Sure enough, there's not a whiff. Emerald Starr, co-owner of Sacred Mountain Sanctuary in Bali, introduced Wastewater Gardens to the country. With Starr championing the cause, Wastewater Gardens will likely be embraced in Indonesia as eagerly as it was in the Yucatan.
Cost is one of the system's better selling points.
Using EPA estimates, a finance manager for the Bali Intercontinental Hotel figured that for most hotels in Bali, a Wastewater Gardens program can pay for itself within three years. And whereas conventional systems last just 20 years, ecological systems can last indefinitely. Presently, the high cost of conventional systems combined with poor environmental enforcement do little to encourage adequate sewage processing in Bali. Tiny hotel septic tanks fill with sludge as often as once a week. Raw waste is pumped and dumped along the coast.