Sanlexicon E - F
Content Table
- E-coli
- Ecological sanitation
- Eco-sanitation latrine
- Enabling environment
- Environmental sanitation
- Excreta
- Excreta disposal
- FOAM
- Faecal-oral disease
- Faeces
- Flying toilet
- Fossa Alterna
- Related Articles
E-coli
Indicator bacteria that is used in tests to confirm the presence of contamination by human excreta.
Ecological sanitation
Works of the principle that urine and faeces are not simply waste products of the human digestion process, but rather assets that if properly managed can contribute to health, better food production and reduced levels of groundwater pollution. A sanitation system that makes use of humanexcreta and turns it into a valuable resource which can be introduced into agriculture with no pollution of the environment, and in a manner which poses no threat to human health. The system aims to achieve safe, non-polluting human waste disposal in rural and urban areas, recognizing that the nature of sanitation systems has important implications for the quality and safety of the environment as a whole. The thrust of ecological sanitation is that on-site containment and sanitation using latrines that are urine-diversion toilets is the preferred system. These systems also have the advantage that their stored contents can, over time, be used as nutrients for food production; in rural areas they can be used directly by households, and in urban areas also be sold as a fertilizer product for income-generation purposes.
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Eco-sanitation latrine
- Store and prepare faeces for use in agriculture, encouraging the formation of humus by the addition of wood ash and/or soil
- Allow the application of urine as fertiliser in agriculture, in case urine is separated
- Remove faeces and urine from the immediate environment thereby contributing to better health
- Are dry systems that make contamination of groundwater extremely unlikely
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Enabling environment
Definitions of the enabling environment are numerous, and range from all-encompassing to narrow. A typical general definition is as follows:
“An enabling environment is a set of interrelated conditions - such as legal, bureaucratic, fiscal, informational, political, and cultural - that impact on the capacity of development actors to engage in development processes in a sustained and effective manner” (Thindwa, J. 2001).
Factors for an enabling environment can be divided into five groups: economic, political, administrative, socio-cultural and resources. Within these groups, numerous different features of the enabling environment can be defined.
Environmental sanitation
Interventions to reduce peoples’ exposure to disease by providing a clean environment in which to live, with measures to break the cycle of disease. This usually includes hygienic management of human and animal excreta, refuse/solid waste, wastewater, storm water, the control of disease vectors, and the provision of washing facilities for personal and domestic hygiene. Environmental Sanitation involves both behaviours and facilities which work together to form a hygienic environment.
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Excreta
Human faeces and urine.
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Excreta disposal
The complete four stage process of:
- Collection of excreta
- Transportation of excreta to a suitable location
- Storage and/or treatment of excreta
- Reusing and/or returning excreta to the environment or other safe disposal
A good excreta-disposal system is sustainable and minimizes or removes health risks and negative impacts in the environment.
FOAM
- Focus
- Opportunity
- Ability
- Motivation
A behaviour change model for handwashing programs.
Faecal-oral disease
Disease transmission from faeces to the human digestive tract via the mouth.
Faeces
Excrement of humans and animals.
Flying toilet
The practice to defecate into a plastic bag that is then dumped in alleys or ditches.
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Fossa Alterna
A twin pit system based on the principles of non-urine diverting ecological sanitation. Two shallow pits are dug and used like the twin pit latrine i.e. one filling whilst the other is maturing, when the second is full, empty the first and use again. A dry mixture of soil and ash is added after each use which helps prevent odour and keeps the contents damp and aerobic and opposed to saturated, smelly and anaerobic. A thin layer of soil is placed on the full pit making it ideal for plants whilst the ‘manuring’ process takes place. The watering of these plants helps the composting process. When the second pit is full the contents of the first are dug into the garden or farm to increase the soil fertility.
