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Sanitation and HealthIn a village toilets have long been unavailable, but with increasing population it is becoming inevitable to build proper sanitation facilities. Usually a toilet is built with a septic tank in the absence of a sewer system. A few things need to be taken into consideration prior to installation:a) size/capacity of the septic tank dependent on usage. b) water usage for flushing and cleaning c) proximity to boreholes and wells d) maintenance issues Some while ago a public toilet has been erected in our village on a government initiative.    The unfinished public toilet with open septic tank. There are 3 cabins. The right picture shows one of the two community boreholes in critical proximity to the installation (= risk of contamination) Unfortunately the aspect of maintenance has not been clarified inspite of its significance for a public installation. A private bathroom can always be kept in proper condition by the owner, but a public toilet needs cleaning and repairing by somebody who is appointed with the job. In a village setting it is very difficult (if not impossible) to find such a person and also it is a threat to the persons health, hence additional funding for proper tools, protection wear and detergents should be made available. There is an NGO called Sulabh International promoting the widespread installation of toilets in India. They have done excellent research and came up with very good concepts and solutions for private and public toilets. One of their findings is to furnish each installation with two separate septic tanks, which can be used alternately. If one tank gets full it will be shut off and the other one gets activated, allowing uninterrupted use of the facility and time for the content of the first one to properly settle and decompose during several months. The dry odorless matter can then easily and safely be removed, as all potentially harmful microbes have been neutralized by that time. To empty a freshly filled septic tank is a very messy business, that puts the worker at high risk of contamination. The toilet should also be erected in a safe distance to boreholes and wells, as lateral contamination is very probable, especially during heavy rainfall. The vertical safety distance to groundwater levels has been established by tests with only 3 Meters to be sufficient to hold back any pathogens. We encourage the installation of private toilets and have contributed to the first toilet of the village ashram 9 years ago. Until today many households have followed this example. We are looking into the possibility of installing a small scale sewer system, connecting a few private toilets to a biogas plant in order to convert biomass to energy. An adjacent water recycling system, where the waste is dried and sterilized by solar heat would help to limit the wastage of water and to dispose of the solids in a hygienic way. top
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