The Sanitation Workers Knowledge + Learning Hub is the best source for all current news, trends, articles and updates on sanitation workers rights around the world.
In November of 2013, Typhoon Haiyan struck the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines devastating homes and families in its path. The response by the government and international community was swift as shelter kits were distributed and “bunkhouse-style” temporary housing built for displaced persons. As these needs were met, new problems emerged, among them was how to properly manage the …
High-level experts from the sanitation and nutrition sector gathered together in the headquarter of Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Bonn for the WASH and Nutrition Forum on November 11th and 12th to discuss strategies for integrating WASH and nutrition programming in development and humanitarian contexts.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the United Kingdom Department for international Development (DfiD) are collaborating to demonstrate how cities can use binding service level agreements and performance-based contracts with private sector partners as a way to ensure the city-wide delivery of sustainable sanitation services that are equitable and provide both private and public …
In Cambodia, children’s feces are rarely disposed of in an improved sanitation facility. This study examines current practices and the role that enabling products may play in increasing hygienic management of infant and young child (IYC) feces in households with access to improved sanitation. A survey was conducted with the primary caregiver of a child under 5 years of age in 130 homes with an …
Safe disposal of children’s feces is as essential as that of adults’ feces. The Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) tracks progress toward the Millennium Development Goal 7 target to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The JMP standardized definition for an improved sanitation facility is …
The relief-rehabilitation-development paradigm is counterproductive in contexts of protracted armed conflict in urban areas. Experience of disaster relief and rural armed conflict has shown that it constricts planning by limiting interventions to those that are “relief” or “post-war” in nature and that may be seen as the first steps in bridging an artificial gap between conflict and …
Sphere’s six Core Standards describe processes that are essential to achieving all the Sphere minimum standards, which are focused on meeting the urgent survival needs of people affected by disaster or conflict. They are a practical expression of the principles of the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and are fundamental to the rights of people affected by conflict or disaster to assistance that …
The broader objective of the Participation Oriented Safety Training (POST) manual is to support emptiers and employers involved in this field to improve their knowledge of occupational health and safety in both manual and mechanical operations. The present training manual aims to address the risks involved in faecal sludge handing and emptying operations through the implementation of …
The objective of this study was to determine if composting worms and their cocoons are able to survive in and digest faecal sludge. Eighteen vermifilters with different worm and cocoon densities were set-up, fed with faecal sludge (from portable pour-flush toilets) and ran for 38 days. Samples of the sludge, effluent and vermicompost were analysed for pH, total solids, chemical oxygen demand, …
Local government units (LGUs) just beginning to implement a new septage management program may wish to phase in the program over time. Lime stabilization can be done as a first phase following a disaster and perhaps serve the public and commercial sectors. In the next phase, a municipal or city-wide program to desludge all septic tanks on a regular schedule using treatment technologies besides …
In this research, three faecal sludge sanitizing methods—lactic acid fermentation, urea treatment and lime treatment—were studied for application in emergency situations. These methods were investigated by undertaking small scale field trials with pit latrine sludge in Blantyre, Malawi. Hydrated lime was able to reduce the E. coli count in the sludge to below the detectable limit within 1 h …
This paper describes the development of a novel onsite sanitation system based on vermifiltration, the Tiger Toilet. Initial laboratory experiments demonstrated that feed distribution was not required, a worm density of 2 kg/m2 could be used, worms preferred wetter environments, and system configuration did not affect effluent quality. Installing the first prototype in the UK proved that the …
Container-based sanitation (CBS) – in which wastes are captured in sealable containers that are then transported to treatment facilities – is an alternative sanitation option in urban areas where on-site sanitation and sewerage are infeasible. This paper presents the results of a pilot household CBS service in Cap Haitien, Haiti. We quantify the excreta generated weekly in a dense urban slum, …
BORDA-DEWATS constitutes the treatment element of a sanitation concept that starts with the individual user interface, the toilet, and continues with a simplified sewer system that connects a neighbourhood of less than 10 households up to a few hundred households. The collected wastewater then enters the treatment stage. Solid matter sediments under anaerobic conditions and decomposes by …
Promover una alternativa válida de un sistema de saneamiento sustentable con separación de orina en zonas sin acceso directo a la cloaca y/o en zonas secas, alejadas, periurbanas o rurales que como máximo cuentan con un sistema básico rudimentario, como por ejemplo un pozo negro o una letrina
On-site sanitation is a desirable option in many contexts and various on-site technologies have been rolled out in South Africa, as well as other countries, as a basic standard of adequate sanitation. Most on-site sanitation
systems accumulate sludge in a collection chamber which eventually becomes full and needs to be
emptied; the system can then be recommissioned for another cycle of use. If, …
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are critical in the prevention and care for all of the 17 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) scheduled for intensified control or elimination by 2020.
Provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the five key interventions within the global NTD roadmap. Yet to date, the WASH component of the strategy has received little attention and the …
This policy brief documents the state of the evidence on how poor WASH impacts MNH and summarises SHARE's contribution to our understanding. It also highlights opportunities for future research and offers insights that could influence policy and improve programming in both sectors globally. In doing so, it offers a powerful argument in favour of using WASH to support efforts on MNH to leverage …
This policy brief highlights the often overlooked and enormous potential of hygienic child stool disposal to considerably reduce the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases.It features new evidence on the determinants of child stool disposal and offers recommendations for the WASH and health sectors.
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