Pit latrine: Difference between revisions
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===Fully=== |
===Fully=== |
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A fully lined pit latrine has concrete lining also at the base so that no liquids infiltrate into the ground. One could argue that this is no longer a "pit" latrine in the stricter sense. The advantage is that no [[groundwater]] contamination can occur. The major disadvantage is that a fully lined pit latrine fills up very fast (as the urine cannot escape the pit) which results in high costs to empty and maintain the latrine. Increased odour can also be an issue as the pit content is much wetter and therefore emits more odour. This type of pit latrine is therefore used only in special cirumstances, e.g. in denser settlements where groundwater protection is paramount. |
A fully lined pit latrine has concrete lining also at the base so that no liquids infiltrate into the ground. One could argue that this is no longer a "pit" latrine in the stricter sense. The advantage is that no [[groundwater]] contamination can occur. The major disadvantage is that a fully lined pit latrine fills up very fast (as the urine cannot escape the pit) which results in high costs to empty and maintain the latrine. Increased odour can also be an issue as the pit content is much wetter and therefore emits more odour. This type of pit latrine is therefore used only in special cirumstances, e.g. in denser settlements where groundwater protection is paramount. |
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== Pit emptying and faecal sludge management == |
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[[File:Passing the faecal sludge to the top of the pit latrine.jpg|thumb|An unprotected worker emptying the pit of a pit latrine in Fada N'Gourma in the East of Burkina Faso. The man works without gloves, boots and mask, because these are too expensive. Boots would be useless as in the beginning of the emptying process the sludge normally reaches up too the emptiers' knees]] |
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[[File:Dumping of faecal sludge into the river.jpg|thumb|Faecal sludge that has been manually removed from pits is dumped into the local river at Korogocho slum near Nairobi, Kenya]] |
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Pits can be either covered and abandoned or periodically emptied when full, usually by a pump mounted on a large truck which also carries a tank for storage (called a vacuum tanker or in some countries "honey sucker"). The waste is transported by road to a [[sewage treatment]] facility, or to be composted elsewhere. There are numerous licensed waste hauling companies providing such service in areas where it is needed in developed countries, although in developing countries such services are not well regulated and are often carried out by untrained, unskilled and unprotected informal workers. |
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The requirements for safe pit emptying and faecal sludge management are often forgotten by those building pit latrines, as the pit will "only" fill up in a few years time. However, still today in many developing countries safe faecal sludge management practices are sorely lacking and causing public health risks as well as environmental pollution.<ref name="Still2012" /> Faecal sludge that has been removed from pits manually or with vacuum tankers is often dumped into the environment indiscriminately, leading to what has been called "institutionalised [[open defecation]]". |
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== User experiences == |
== User experiences == |
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Revision as of 22:25, 22 October 2014
A pit latrine or pit toilet is a type of toilet that does not need water for flushing.[2] It collects human feces in a hole in the ground. It is the least expensive method of separating feces from people.[3] This separation is not always complete and groundwater pollution may occur. When properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment and thereby preventing flies from transferring bacteria, viruses, and parasites between feces and food.[3] Not using toilets, known as open defecation, is a major factor in causing infectious diarrhea.[4] Infectious diarrhea in turn resulted in about 0.7 million deaths in children in 2011 and 250 million lost school days.[4][5]
A pit toilet is made up of three major parts: a hole in the ground (this is the pit), a slab with a small hole in the centre of covering the large hole in the ground and a building.[1] The pit is typically at least 3 m deep and 1 m in diameter, although deeper pits are also common in some regions.[1] On top of the small hole there can either be nothing (this is the simplest form of a pit latrine) or there can be a squatting pan, seat (pedestal) or bench which can be made of concrete, ceramic, plastic or wood. The upper part of the pit is usually, but not always, lined with bricks or cement rings in order to prevent the pit from collapsing and to give a stable base for the slab and toilet cubicle floor if there is one.[1] The World Health Organization recommends that pit latrines are built about 6 meters (6.6 yards) from the house, at least 30 meters (32.8 yards) from water sources, and at least 2 meters (2.2 yards) above the water table when it is at its highest. The size of the hole in the floor or slab should not be larger than 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) to prevent children falling in. Light should be prevented from entering the pit to reduce access by flies. This requires the use of a lid to cover the hole in the floor when not in use.[3] When the pit fills to within 0.5 meters of the top, it should be emptied or a new hole dug and the structure moved. If the pit is to be emptied by hand, two years must pass after last usage before this can be considered relatively safe.[2] Using protective equipment including gloves and boots is still recommended during emptying. Pit toilets may fall into disrepair and be abandoned when full if there are no mechanisms to empty the pit safely or to build a new pit. Also, disposal of the sludge from the pit maybe difficult.[6]
A basic pit toilet can be improved in a number of ways. One includes adding a ventilation pipe from the pit to above the structure. This improves airflow and decreases the smell of the toilet. It also can reduce flies when the top of the pipe is covered with mesh (usually made out of fiberglass). In these types of toilets a lid need not be used to cover the hole in the floor. Other possible improvements include a floor constructed so fluid drains into the hole and a reinforcement of the pit to prevent its collapse. Ashes or sawdust can also be added on top of the feces to decrease the smell.[2] A further possible improvement is the use of a second pit which is used in alternation with the first pit. This is a common design for so-called twin-pit pour flush toilets and increases the safety for those having to enter the pit.[1]
As of 2013 pit toilets are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people.[7] This is mostly in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas. In 2011 about 2.5 billion people did not have access to a proper toilet and one billion defecate outside.[8] Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have the poorest access to toilets.[9] In the developing world the cost of a simple pit toilet is between 25 and 60 USD.[10] In India the "No Toilet, No Bride" slogan is used successfully to promote toilets by encouraging women to refuse to marry a man who does not own a toilet.[11]
Terminology
Pit latrines are sometimes also referred to as "dry toilets" but this is not recommended because a "dry toilet" is an overarching term used for several types of toilets and strictly speaking only refers to the user interface.[1] Depending on the region, the term "pit latrine" may be used to denote a toilet that has a squatting pan with a water seal or siphon (more accurately termed a pour-flush pit latrine - very common in South East Asia for example) or simply a hole in the ground without a water seal (also called a simple pit latrine) - the common type in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst a dry toilet can be with or without urine diversion, a pit latrine is almost always without urine diversion. The key characteristic of a pit latrine is the use of a pit which infiltrates liquids into the ground and acts as a device for storage and very limited treatment.[1]
Types
Pit latrines collects human feces in a hole in the ground. The principle of a pit latrine is that all liquids that enter the pit - in particular urine and water used for anal cleansing - seep into the ground (the only exception are fully lined pit latrines, see below).
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Well maintained pit latrine at a rural household near Maseru, Lesotho. -
Pit latrine from the inside at a household near Maseru, Lesotho (same toilet as shown above from the outside). -
School children in Zimbabwe digging a shallow pit for an Arborloo toilet (a variation of a pit latrine), Epworth in Harare, Zimbabwe -
Traditional pit latrine in North Kamenya, Kenya -
This photo shows children in a funny way how toilets in rural areas in Germany used to look like not so long ago. -
Abandoned pit latrine in the peri-urban area of Durban, South Africa -
Interior of an outhouse the structure usually built over the pit to provide privacy
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Slit-trench latrine and cathole
The slit-trench latrine is the simplest type of pit toilet, consisting of a relatively shallow (3–6 feet/1–2 metres in depth) trench narrow enough to stand with one leg on either side. This type is used either by squatting, with the users' legs straddling the pit, or by various arrangements for sitting or leaning against a support structure. Such support may vary from the simplest forms such as a log, plank, branch or similar arrangement placed at right angles to the long axis of the pit. This type of latrine is not commonly found in developing countries but can be used for emergency sanitation.
A cathole is a one-time use pit toilet often utilized by campers, hikers and other outdoor recreationalists.
Advanced designs
An advanced pit toilet is more complex forms, or higher capacity forms - commonly associated with outhouses though sometimes used underneath a house, or as a central collection area for several outhouses or other waste collection arrangements - the pit will be larger, and covered with a supporting structure. This structure may be simply a metal plate, or board floor - with a hole over which the user positions themselves during use. A provision for seating is often placed above a pit toilet, this may be a simple hole, or several holes, in a board surface at sitting height. In bitter cold Arctic climates, honey buckets are used inside the home and carried to such covered pits outside.
A more substantial structure may also be built. Commonly known as an outhouse, these small enclosed buildings (also called superstructure) provide a roof for shelter, one or more seats with a hole in it, and occasionally access to water for washing.
Ventilated improved pit
The ventilated improved pit latrine (VIP), is a pit toilet with a black pipe (vent pipe) fitted to the pit, and a screen (flyscreen) at the top outlet of the pipe. VIP latrines are an improvement to overcome the disadvantages of simple pit latrines, i.e. fly and mosquito nuisance and unpleasant odors. The smell is carried upwards by the chimney effect and flies are prevented from leaving the pit and spreading disease.[12]
The principal mechanism of ventilation in VIP latrines is the action of wind blowing across the top of the vent pipe. The wind creates a strong circulation of air through the superstructure, down through the squat hole, across the pit and up and out of the vent pipe. Unpleasant faecal odors from the pit contents are thus sucked up and exhausted out of vent pipe, leaving the superstructure odor-free. In some cases solar-powered fans are added giving a constant outwards flow from the vent pipe.
Flies, searching for an egg-laying site are attracted by faecal odors coming from the vent pipe, but they are prevented from entering by the flyscreen at the outlet of the vent pipe. Some flies may enter into the pit via the squat hole and lay their eggs there. When new adult flies emerge they instinctively fly towards light. However, if the latrine is dark inside the only light they can see is at the top of the vent pipe. Since the vent pipe is provided with a fly screen at the top, flies will not be able to escape and eventually they will die and fall back into the pit.
To ensure that there is a flow of air through the latrine there must be adequate ventilation of the superstructure. This is usually achieved by leaving openings above and below the door, or by constructing a spiral wall without a door.[13]
Covering the feces with an absorbent decreases smell and discourages flies. These may include soil, sawdust, ash or lime among others.[2] In developing countries, the use of absorbents in pit toilets is not commonly practiced.
Pour-flush pit latrine
In a pour-flush pit latrine, a squatting toilet with a water seal (U-trap or siphon) is used over one or two offset pits instead of a plain hole or seat. Therefore, these types of toilets do required water for flushing but otherwise have many of the same characteristics as simple pit latrines and are therefore subsumed under the term "pit latrine". The faecal sludge that is removed from the full pits of twin-pit pour-pour flush pit latrines is somewhat safer to handle and reuse than the faecal sludge from single pit pour-flush latrines, although significant health risks remain in either case and are a cause for great concern.[14]
Pit lining
Partial
A "partially lined" pit latrine is one where the upper part of the hole in the ground is lined. Pit lining materials can include brick, rot-resistant timber, concrete, stones, or mortar plastered onto the soil.[1] This partial lining is recommended for those pit latrine used by a great number of people — such as a public restroom in rural areas, or in a woodland park or busy lay-by, rest stop or other similarly busy location — or where the soils are unstable in order to increase permanence and allow emptying of the pit without it collapsing easily. The bottom of the pit should remain unlined to allow for the infiltration of liquids out of the pit.
In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania pit latrines costing up to $300 are 10 ft (3.0 m) deep and lined with concrete slabs, while cheaper “temporary toilets” consist of a pits lined with two stacked oil drums or a stack of tires.[15] These latrines, which are often used by several households, may be emptied by vacuum truck, manual digging, or overflowing into streets during rains.[15]
Fully
A fully lined pit latrine has concrete lining also at the base so that no liquids infiltrate into the ground. One could argue that this is no longer a "pit" latrine in the stricter sense. The advantage is that no groundwater contamination can occur. The major disadvantage is that a fully lined pit latrine fills up very fast (as the urine cannot escape the pit) which results in high costs to empty and maintain the latrine. Increased odour can also be an issue as the pit content is much wetter and therefore emits more odour. This type of pit latrine is therefore used only in special cirumstances, e.g. in denser settlements where groundwater protection is paramount.
Pit emptying and faecal sludge management
Pits can be either covered and abandoned or periodically emptied when full, usually by a pump mounted on a large truck which also carries a tank for storage (called a vacuum tanker or in some countries "honey sucker"). The waste is transported by road to a sewage treatment facility, or to be composted elsewhere. There are numerous licensed waste hauling companies providing such service in areas where it is needed in developed countries, although in developing countries such services are not well regulated and are often carried out by untrained, unskilled and unprotected informal workers.
The requirements for safe pit emptying and faecal sludge management are often forgotten by those building pit latrines, as the pit will "only" fill up in a few years time. However, still today in many developing countries safe faecal sludge management practices are sorely lacking and causing public health risks as well as environmental pollution.[6] Faecal sludge that has been removed from pits manually or with vacuum tankers is often dumped into the environment indiscriminately, leading to what has been called "institutionalised open defecation".
User experiences
Pit latrines may or may not be an enjoyable experience to use. Problems may occur when the pit latrine is shared by too many people, is not cleaned daily and not emptied when the pit is full. In such cases, flies and odour can be a massive nuisance. Also, pit latrines are usually dark places which are difficult to keep clean. Often, handwashing facilities are missing. Therefor shared pit latrines can be quite uncomfortable to use in developing countries. Also, there might be cultural preferences for open defecation and these may be difficult to overcome with unattractive toilet designs. This is currently being discussed amongst experts for the example in the case of rural India where behaviour change campaigns are needed to reduce open defecation.[16]
Advantages
Advantages of pit latrines may include:[1]
- Can be built and repaired with locally available materials
- Low (but variable) capital costs depending on materials and pit depth
- Small land area required
Measures to improve access to safe water, sanitation and better hygiene, which includes the use of pit toilets in places without access to toilets, is believed to be able to prevent nearly 90% of deaths due to infectious diarrhea.[17]
Disadvantages
Disadvantages of pit latrines may include:[1]
- Flies and odours are normally noticeable to the users
- The toilet has to be outdoors with the associated security risks if the person is living in an insecure situation
- Low reduction in organic matter content and pathogens
- Possible contamination of groundwater
- Costs to empty the pits may be significant compared to capital costs
- Pit emptying is often done in a very unsafe manner
- Sludge (called faecal sludge) requires further treatment and/or appropriate discharge
Situations where not suitable
Pit latrines are often built in developing countries even in situations where they are not recommended. These include (adapted from [18]):
- Frequent flooding, resulting in inoperable toilet systems and the contamination of water resources;
- Unfavourable soil conditions, such as unstable or rocky soil and high water table, making pit-based sanitation difficult and expensive;
- When groundwater is the primary source of drinking water and is likely to be contaminated by pit-based sanitation (for example in denser settlements or with unfavourable hydrogeological conditions);
- Limited land space restricts the excavation of new pits if full pit latrines are usually not emptied;
- Indoor installations are preferred as they provide greater comfort and security at night thus making them more accessible for all
In conditions where pit latrines are not suitable for the above mentioned reasons, the installations of other types of toilets should be considered, e.g. the urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT).[18]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tilley, E., Ulrich, L., Lüthi, C., Reymond, Ph. and Zurbrügg, C. (2014). Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies (2 ed.). Dübendorf, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). ISBN 9783906484570.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d François Brikké (2003). Linking technology choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation (PDF). World Health Organization. p. 108. ISBN 9241562153.
- ^ a b c "Simple pit latrine (fact sheet 3.4)" (pdf). who.int. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Call to action on sanitation" (pdf). United Nations. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Walker, CL; Rudan, I; Liu, L; Nair, H; Theodoratou, E; Bhutta, ZA; O'Brien, KL; Campbell, H; Black, RE (Apr 20, 2013). "Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea". Lancet. 381 (9875): 1405–16. PMID 23582727.
- ^ a b Still, David; Foxon, Kitty (2012). Tackling the challenges of full pit latrines : report to the Water Research Commission. Gezina [South Africa]: Water Research Commission. ISBN 9781431202935.
- ^ Graham, JP; Polizzotto, ML (May 2013). "Pit latrines and their impacts on groundwater quality: a systematic review". Environmental health perspectives. 121 (5): 521–30. PMID 23518813.
- ^ "Sanitation" (pdf). United Nations. 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Progress on sanitation and drinking-water - 2014 update (pdf). WHO. 2014. pp. 16–20. ISBN 9789241507240.
- ^ Selendy, edited by Janine M. H. (2011). Water and sanitation-related diseases and the environment challenges, interventions, and preventive measures ([Elektronische Ressource] ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 25. ISBN 9781118148600.
{{cite book}}:|first1=has generic name (help) - ^ Global Problems, Smart Solutions: Costs and Benefits. Cambridge University Press. 2013. p. 623. ISBN 9781107435247.
- ^ Drains Not Disease - Zambia, Television Trust for the Environment website.
- ^ Ahmed,M.F. & Rahman,M.M. (2003). Water Supply & Sanitation: Rural and Low Income Urban Communities, 2nd Edition, ITN-Bangladesh. ISBN 984-31-0936-8.
- ^ "Discussion about the safety of sludge from twin pit pour flush toilets amongst sanitation experts". SuSanA Discussion Forum. 11 Sep 2013. Retrieved 15 Oct 2014.
- ^ a b George, Rose (7 July 2009). The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 83–85. ISBN 978-1-4299-2548-8.
- ^ Clasen, Thomas; Boisson, Sophie; Routray, Parimita; Torondel, Belen; Bell, Melissa; Cumming, Oliver; Ensink, Jeroen; Freeman, Matthew; Jenkins, Marion; Odagiri, Mitsunori; Ray, Subhajyoti; Sinha, Antara; Suar, Mrutyunjay; Schmidt, Wolf-Peter. "Effectiveness of a rural sanitation programme on diarrhoea, soil-transmitted helminth infection, and child malnutrition in Odisha, India: a cluster-randomised trial". The Lancet Global Health. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70307-9.
- ^ Organization, UNICEF, World Health (2009). Diarrhoea : why children are still dying and what can be done (PDF). New York: United Nations Children's Fund. p. 2. ISBN 978-92-806-4462-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Rieck, C., von Münch, E., Hoffmann, H. (2012). Technology review of urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDTs) - Overview on design, management, maintenance and costs. Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Eschborn, Germany
External links
- Single pit latrine on eCompendium website, the online version of the Eawag-Sandec Compendium
- Types of toilet and their suitability Practical Action
- Photos of pit latrines: Type "pit latrine" into the search field of the SuSanA photo database on flickr.