Sanlexicon W - X
Content Table
WASH Initiative
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all Campaign.
The primary objective of the WASH Campaign is to accelerate the rate of delivery by 2015, safe, affordable and reliable water and sanitation services to over 1.1 billion people who currently have no access to water supply and more than 2.4 billion who have no adequate sanitation . In addition, the WASH campaign focuses on teaching basic sanitation and hygiene to school children and communities, with an emphasis on girls’ education, as a necessary complement to the success of water and sanitation infrastructure projects. The main coordination and implementation institution is the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Its success depends on strong public/private partnerships, countries’ and donors’ support. The WASH Campaign seeks to promote political will and deliver the infrastructure for the delivery of water and sanitation services to under-served communities in both rural and urban areas. In addition to the investments in hardware for service delivery, WASH emphasizes the need to effect behavioral changes in hygiene and in water management and sanitation practices. Public awareness and understanding of the linkages between water, sanitation and hygiene to poverty alleviation and sustainable development are important elements of capacity building for this initiative.
Wastewater treatment
Methods for wastewater treatment are often classified into four categories in the order they were developed and applied and the degree of treatment they provide:
- Preliminary or pre-treatment, which refers to the removal of large objects and usually includes at least bar screens and grit chambers.
- Primary treatment, which usually consists of primary sedimentation tanks with or without chemical precipitation.
- Secondary treatment, which refers to biological methods such as activated sludge or trickling filters as an alternative to, or in combination with, chemical precipitation.
- Tertiary or advanced treatment, which generally refers to biological or chemical treatment that removes nutrients or toxic compounds or improves the overall quality of the secondary treatment.
Water Closet
Can only used in households with a connection to a sewer/septic tank and preferably one connected to a piped water supply. The latrine is usually a pedestal, although squat versions are available and are made from porcelain. Both paper and water wash anal cleaning is possible. The faeces and urine are initially deposed in an S–trap at the base of the pedestal until the user activates a lever which releases a large volume of water stored in a tank (cistern) situated at the rear of the pedestal. The momentum created by the water flushes thefaeces and urine into a drain and eventually carries it to the treatment site. The flush water also washes over the surface of the pedestal bowl giving it a clean appearance for the next user. Smell and flies are prevented from entering the superstructure by the S-trap which creates an effective temporary seal to the drain. This seal is so effective that the water closet can be placed indoors without causing any smell nuisances to the occupants.
See Also:
Water seal
Water held in a U-shaped pipe of hemispherical bowl connecting a pan to a pipe, channel or pit to prevent the escape of gases and insects from the sewer or pit.
