Environmental Spotters

Dr. Bijit Biswas

MD, DNB, DCMH, FRSPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Community & Family Medicine, AIIMS Deoghar
 Sanitary Well
• Location: Not less than 15 m (50 feet) from likely sources of contamination & at a higher
elevation. Not more than 100 m from houses

• Lining: Should be made up of bricks/ stones & cement up to a depth of at least 6 m (20 feet) and
60-90 cm (2-3 feet) above the ground

• Parapet wall: up to a height of 70-75 cm (28 inches) above the ground

• Platform: Extending at least 1m (3 feet) in all directions with a gentle slope towards the drain.

• Drain: pucca drain around the well to carry off spilled water to a public drain or soakage pit.

• Covering: Top closed by a cement cover.

• Hand pump: If possible it should be equipped with a hand pump in a Sanitary manner.
 Soakage Pit
• Diameter 1.5m to 4.0m

• Should be 15 m away from drinking water

source and 1.5 m above ground water

• Walled by dry honeycomb brick wall

• Lined by coarse gravel, sand and brick

• Use: Soakage of waste water generated at

tube well, sanitary well and septic tank.
Bore Hole Latrine

• 20 feet depth

• 16-inch diameter

• Auger used for digging

• Earthen wire ring / bamboo matting

• Enough for a family of 5 for a year.

 Septic Tank
• Recommended for Household Level
• Capacity: 500 gallons
• Length twice as breadth
• Depth: 2m
• Liquid Depth: 1.2 m
• Ideal Retention Period: 24 hours
• Minimum Air Space: 30cm
• Anaerobic Digestion
• Aerobic Digestion
• Should be emptied once a year
 Slow Sand Filter
FILTER BOX
• Rectangular open box 2.5
to 4.0m deep built wholly or
partly below the ground.
✓ Supernatant water 1.5m
✓ Sand Bed 1.2m
✓ Gravel support 0.30m
✓ Filter Bottom 0.16m
Criteria Slow Sand Filter
1. Space Occupies large area
2.Rate of Filtration 0.1-0.4 m3/m2/hour
3. Effective size of sand 0.2-0.3mm
4.Preliminary treatment Plain sedimentation
5.Washing By scrapping of sand bed
6.Operation Less skilled
7.Loss of head allowed 1.5m
8.Removal of turbidity Good
9.Removal of colour Fair
10.Removal of bacteria 99.9-99.99%
 Rapid Sand Filter
Criteria Rapid Sand Filter
1. Space Occupies very little space
2.Rate of Filtration 5-15 m3/m2/hour
3. Effective size of sand 0.4-0.7mm
4.Preliminary treatment Chemical coagulation and
sedimentation
5.Washing By backwashing
6.Operation Highly skilled
7.Loss of head allowed 2.0-2.5m
8.Removal of turbidity Good
9.Removal of colour Good
10.Removal of bacteria 98.0-99.0%
 Berkefeld filter
• Used for water purification on a small scale
• Essential part of the filter is candle which is made up of infusorial earth
(porcelain in Chamberland/ kieselguhr)
• Usually removes bacteria but not the viruses
• Should be cleaned by scrubbing with a hard brush under running water &
boiled at least once a week
• Only clean water should be used
Bleaching powder/ Chlorinated lime (CaOcl2)
• White amorphous powder with a pungent smell
• When freshly made it contains about 33% of available chlorine.
• On exposure to air, light & moisture it rapidly loses its chlorine content.
• But when mixed with an excess of lime, it retains strength & is known as
stabilized bleach.
• Should be stored in a dark, cool, dry place in a closed container that is
resistant to corrosion.
Chlorine tablets/ Halazone tablets:

• Good for disinfecting small quantities of water

• Costly

• NEERI, Nagpur has formulated a new type which is 15 times better

than the ordinary one

• A single tablet of 0.5 gm is sufficient to disinfect 20 litres of water

Dose of bleaching powder for disinfection of Water:
➢Horrock’s Apparatus:
▪ Contents:
✓6 white cups(200ml)
✓One black cup (with circular mark
inside)
✓2 metal spoons(2gm)
✓7 stirring rods
✓One special pipette
✓Two droppers
✓Starch-iodine indicator solution
✓Instruction folder
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Horrock’s Apparatus operating procedure:
• Prepare stalk solution by addition of 2gm bleaching powder with water in
black cup up to circular mark
• Fill 6 cups with water to be tested 1cm below the brim
• With special pipette add one drop in first cup, two drop in second cup
and so on..
• Stir water in each cup using separate rod
• Wait for half an hour
• Add 3 drops of starch-iodide solution in each white cup
• Development of blue colour indicates free residual chlorine
• Suppose 3rd cup shows blue colour then 3 level spoonfuls (6gm) would
disinfect 455 litres of sample water.
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Detection of Chlorine level in Water:
➢Orthotolidine(OT) test:
• It can detect both free and combined chlorine in
water
• Orthotolidine reagent: Orthotolidine dissolved
in 10% HCL
▪ Process:
• 0.1 ml of Orthotolidine reagent added with 1 ml
of water(chlorine containing) which produces
yellow colour.
• Reading within 10 seconds(free chlorine)
• Reading after 15-20 minutes (both free and
combined chlorine)
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 Sling Psychrometer
➢It is a Mercury Thermometer

➢I consists of a
➢Dry Bulb
➢Wet Bulb

• It is used to calculate
➢The Relative Humidity
➢The Dew Point
 Kata Thermometer

• It is an alcohol thermometer

• The readings are only marked from 100 (38 C)

to 95 (35 C) degree F

• Uses:
• Measures Cooling Power of AIR
 Maximum and Minimum Thermometer

• It has U shaved glass tube

• Uses:
• To record the Maximum and
Minimum Temperature
 Globe Thermometer
• Instrument consists of a hollow
copper bulb, 15 cm in diameter,
which is coated on the outside
with matt-black paint which
absorbs radiant heat from the
surrounding objects

• Utility:
➢Measure radiant temperature of
the surrounding
Thank You