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In the Republic of Moldova, access to potable water and adequate sewage disposal is a serious concern, especially in small towns and rural communities. Groundwater is often contaminated with nitrates and other agricultural pollutants, and many residents do not have access to alternative water sources or sewage systems. During ethnographic fieldwork in 2009 and 2010, I encountered various individuals and organizations responding to these issues by seeking international environmental funding to carry out rural sanitation projects. In this paper, I consider how Moldovan environmental advocates utilize certain narratives in an attempt to make these often invisible rural sanitation problems visible. Particular attention is paid to the binary categories they use – including urban/rural, clean/dirty, and global/local – to make sense of problems and to develop potential solutions. These binaries do not necessarily organize practice, and they often lead to contradictory claims. However, these claims play an important role in bringing attention to problems, attracting financial support, and justifying the involvement of some groups while excluding others.

Keywords: environmentalism, rural sanitation, Republic of Moldova