Sanitation & HygieneSafe water, toilets, and good personal hygiene are critical to your health and survival because they help prevent the spread of illness and disease. In a major disaster, like an big earthquake, our water and sewer systems will be damaged, rendering them unusable for weeks, months, and possibly years. Imagine no working toilets or faucets for 1 to 12 months! How will you stay clean? Do you have the materials needed to create a safe and functioning toilet and hand-washing station for your family? Creating your own sanitation and hygiene system is a "must do" for emergency preparedness.
Where will you go, when you've got to go in a disaster? |
Click for 2-bucket toilet stickers; source: www.rdpo.net/emergency-toilet
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You can help yourself and your loved ones stay healthy by washing your hands often with soap and water, when available. For longer-term disasters, when indoor plumbing may not be available, you need to keep your body clean to avoid infection and skin irritations. Here are some short-term options to help conserve water:
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Click to learn more from the CDC
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Safety considerations:
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Source: South West Nebraska Public Health Department
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How to build a hands-free wash system
The simplest way to make a hand-washing station is to place a water jug with a spigot on a table or counter, and drain it into a bucket or wash basin. You can also place a bucket underneath the sink and disconnect the plumbing to allow the sink to drain into a bucket. Another option is to buy or construct a hands-free wash station. The CDC offers instructions on how to build a Tippy Tap. It’s not difficult to put together, requires few moving parts, and will allow you to wash your hands without touching a spigot. A Tippy Tap is operated by a foot lever, and thus reduces the chance for bacteria transmission, as the user touches only the soap. It uses only 2 ounces of water to wash your hands, versus 17 ounces using a bowl. Download the instructions from the CDC on How to build a Tippy Tap. |
A hands-free wash station reduces transmission of germs
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Example of a tippy tap; click for CDC instructions
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Click for instructions on how to build a tippy tap wash station
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Why two buckets for a toilet?
To separate pee and poo. And why separate pee and poo? Most of the volume of your waste is in urine, and urine can be easily disposed of in the yard. Poo is a lot less volume and contains microorganisms that can cause dysentery, cholera and a whole host of dangerous diseases. For that reason, you need to keep poo separate and dispose of it carefully. Also, most of the odor from porta-potties and public toilets comes from urine mixed with poo . Keeping them separate provides a much less unpleasant environment. You can dilute pee one-to-one and pour it on the ground somewhere away from your living area. It won’t breed bacteria there, and it won’t smell a lot. And that takes care of most of your volume challenge. There are differing instructions on diluting pee before disposing of it; some say 4 to 1 water; it shouldn’t be less than 1 to 1. |
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How to set up a 2-bucket toilet system
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Click to read article: "Is Pee Sterile? Here Is What the Science Says," Cleveland Clinic.
Is Pee Sterile?
The quick answer is: No. Urine isn't sterile. All things being equal, poop contains orders of magnitude more disease-causing bacteria than urine by unit mass. However, the myth that a healthy person’s urine is sterile is something medical professionals believed for a long time, according to the Cleveland Clinic (see article). “Old lab testing techniques weren’t sensitive enough to pick up small amounts of bacteria,” Dr. Parekh said. “As the technology improved and we developed more advanced ways to test for bacteria, we learned that there actually are microbes and other contaminants in the urine. The levels are typically harmless for most people, but they’re still there.” Can you get sick coming into contact with urine? Urine is mostly made up of water. However, while it’s very uncommon, coming in contact with your urine or somebody else’s urine does have the potential to make you sick. For that to happen, the pee would probably need to enter either (1) an open wound or (2) one of your external mucus membranes (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitals, or anus). What does this mean for hygiene during a disaster?
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Consider printing the Emergency Toilet Guidebook and including it with your emergency supply kit. You may not have the internet during a disaster, and may need this information for setting up your sanitation stations.
You'll learn about a variety of sanitation methods for staying healthy after a disaster and specifics on how and where to dig a pit toilet. Check out the Public Alerts website for additional steps on creating a Toilet Plan and staying informed. The Emergency Toilet Guidebook was produced by the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO) of the Portland Metropolitan Region, with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program.
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Click to open. Source: RDPO
Click to open. Source: RDPO
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Where to Put Your 2-bucket system
For modesty, and to keep out of the rain, there are shelters like this one you can buy at camping and sports stores, or you can construct your own. Location depends on your particular circumstances – on your deck, on in a select place in the yard that is flat and easy to get to in the dark. It’s important to have enough room to have pee and poo buckets next to each other so you can make sure the poo bucket always gets the toilet paper. If you have a big enough bathroom and are still living in your house, why not put them there? You also need a wash station nearby, with a place to hold soap, water and towels. There are lots and lots of do-it-yourself designs on line, and ideas for pouring water, because you are not going to be using your sink. |
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During a disaster, pet hygiene focuses on sanitation, safe waste disposal, and preventing disease by washing hands, keeping pets away from contaminated areas and wildlife, and regular cleaning of supplies, using items like litter, newspapers, plastic bags, disinfectant, and wipes to manage waste and clean carriers and bowls, all while maintaining a safe, controlled environment on a leash or in a carrier.
Be sure to include the following items in your pet's sanitation kit:
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Pet carriers keep pets safe during a disaster. Image source: Chewy.com
Source: Melinda Beaumont
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Safety Considerations
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Best ways to dispose of household trash in a disaster
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Signs your system is working:
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Signs you system is not working:
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What to do if your septic tank isn't working?
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Source: EPA, www.epa.gov/septic/types-septic-systems
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The Sailor's Method is best for larger items such as blankets or sleeping bags
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Check out the Emergency Toilet Project
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The Emergency Toilet Project
The Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO) created the Emergency Toilet Project:
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Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene after a Cascadia Disaster
In this video, you'll hear Brian Dobecki talk in depth about:
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Click image to download the article.
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Survival Basics: Sanitation and Waste Management
Written by Oregon State University Extension Service, this article concisely describes how to build a two-bucket toilet system and a hand-washing system for an emergency. |
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Check out the Be 2 Weeks Ready program, Unit 5, Waste and Hygiene Plan. This program, developed by Oregon Emergency Management program, includes free curriculum and activities for communities. For more information on the full curriculum and how to get trained, check out our Be 2 Weeks Ready webpage.
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