Excreta disposal

Important facts………….
 Around 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation globally.
 Sub-Saharan Africa (37%)
 Southern Asia (38%)
 Eastern Asia (45%)
 Important facts………….
 Lack of sanitation facilities
forces people to defecate
in the open, in rivers or
near areas where children
play or food is prepared. 
Important facts………….
 Studies show that
improved
sanitation reduces
diarrhoea death
rates by a third.
 Hygiene education
and promotion of
hand washing are
simple, cost-effective
measures that can
reduce diarrhoea
cases by up to 45%
 Health hazards of improper
excreta disposal

 Soil pollution
 Water pollution
 Contamination of foods
 Propagation of flies
Resulting diseases
 Typhoid and paratyphoid fever
 Dysenteries
 Diarrheas
 Cholera
 Hookworm disease
 Ascariasis
 Viral hepatitis
 How disease are carried to human
Water

Fingers

Feces Food New

Host
Flies

Soil
Sanitation barriers
 Breaking the disease cycle at
vulnerable points
 Segregation feces: most effective
 Protection of water supplies
 Protection of foods
 Personal hygiene
 Control of flies
 Sanitation barrier
Water

SANITATION BARRIER
Fingers
Protected
Feces
Flies host

Soil

Food
Sanitation barriers
 Segregation of excreta by imposing a
barrier can be provided by a ‘sanitary
latrine’ and a disposal pit.
Methods of Excreta disposal
 Unsewered areas
 Service type latrines
 Non-service type
 Latrines suitable for camps and temporary use

 Sewered areas
 Water carriage system and sewage treatment
Sewered areas
Unsewered areas
Service type (conservancy system)
 The collection and removal of nightsoil from
bucket or pail latrines by human agency is
called the service type or conservancy
system

 The nightsoil are transported in ‘nightsoil

carts’ to the place of final disposal
 Disposed by composting
 Disposed by shallow trench
Non-service type “Sanitary
latrines”
 Sanitary latrines which fulfils the following
criteria
 Excreta should not contaminate ground or water
 Should not pollute the soil
 Should not be accessible to flies, rodents,
animals or other vehicles of transmission
 Should not create nuisance due to odour or
unsightly appearance
Sanitary latrines
 Bore hole latrines
 Dug well or pit latrines
 Water seal type of latrines
 Septic tank
 Aqua privy
Bore hole latrines
Bore hole latrine
 Very old type
 Circular hole, dug vertically into the
ground
 Disadvantages
 Fills up rapidly
Dug well or pit latrines
Dug well latrines
 Deeper and wider than bore hole
latrines
 A concrete squatting plate is placed on
the top of the pit
 Advantages
 Easy to construct
 Pit has a greater capacity
Function of water seal latrines
Function of water seal latrines
 It prevents access by flies
 It prevent escape of odours and foul
gases
Septic tank
 A water-tight masonry tank into which
household sewage is admitted for
treatment
 It is satisfactory means of disposing
excreta and liquid waste
 How does septic tank works?
 Sludge
 The solid part of the
excreta, settles down at
the bottom of the tank
 Scum
 Lighter solids part like
grease and fat rise to
the surface
 How does septic tank works?
 Anaerobic digestion
 The solid waste are attacked by
the anaerobic bacteria and fungi
and are broken down into simpler
chemicals compound

 The sludge is reduced in volume,

stable and inoffensive

 After digestion some liquids and

gases rises to surface in the form
of bubbles
 How does septic tank works?
 Aerobic digestion
 Many aerobic bacteria
present in the upper layer of
the soil, digest the organic
matter present in the effluent

 Oxidation of organic matters

takes place to form; nitrates,
carbondioxide and water
Operation and maintenance
 Avoid soap water and disinfectants such as
phenol as they are injurious to the bacterial
flora in the septic tank
 Regular ‘desludging’
Aqua Privy
 It consist of water-tight chamber filled with water
 A short length of a drop pipe from the latrine floor
dips into the water
 Recommended for small family
 Works for about 6 years
Chemical closet
 The closet consists of a metal tank
containing a disinfectant fluid
 Formaldehyde or quaternary ammonium
compounds
 A water dye or deodorizing substance can
also be used
 Seat with a cover is used
 No water, only papers should be used
Latrines suitable for camps and
temporary use
 Shallow trench latrine
 Deep trench latrine
 Pit latrine
 Bore hole latrine
Shallow trench latrine
Shallow trench latrine
 Simple trench dug with ordinary tools
 The trench is 30 cm wide and 90-150 cm
deep
 Cover feces with earth each time
 Usually fills up in 10-14 days
 Final cover with soil
 Used for camps
Deep trench latrine
Deep trench latrines
 Intended for camps for longer duration
(few weeks to months)
 About 2 m deep and 75-90 cm wide
Sewage
 Water carriage system
 Also called sewerage system
 Implies collecting and transporting of human
excreta and waste water from residential,
commercial and industrial areas, by a network
of underground pipes, called “sewers” to the
place of ultimate disposal.
Water carriage system
 Types
 Combined sewer system
 The sewer carry both the sewage and surface
water
 Separate sewer system
 System of choice today
Water carriage system
 Elements of water carriage system
 Household sanitary fitting
 House sewer
 Street sewers
 Sewer appurtenances; manholes, traps
Sewage
 Sewage is a waste water from a
community, containing solid and liquid
excreta, derived from the houses,
street and yard washings, factories and
industries
Sullage
 Is a waste water which does not
contain human excreta.
 Waste water from kitchen and bathroom
Composition of sewage
 Water 99.9%
 Solid 0.1%
 Organic matter: offensive smell
 Bacteria
 E. coli 1000 million/ gram
 Fecal streptococci 10-100 million /gram

 Cl. Perfingens 1-10 million/grams

Aim of sewage purification
 Should not be discharged into rivers,
sea or other sources of water supply
Purification of sewage
 Biochemical oxygen demand
 Chemical oxygen demand
 Suspended solids
 Biological oxygen demand
 Definition
 The amount of oxygen absorbed by a sample of
sewage during a specified period, generally 5 days, at
a specified temperature (200C) for the aerobic
destruction or use of organic matter by living
organisms
 BOD range:
 100 mg/L for natural water, “weak”
 300 mg/L for untreated domestic sewage “strong”
Decomposition of organic matter
 Aerobic process
 Most efficient to reduce organic matter
 Requires continuous supply of free dissolved
oxygen
 The organic matter is broken down into simpler
compounds namely CO2, water, ammonia,
nitrites, nitrates and sulphates by the action of
bacterial, fungal and protozoal digestion
Decomposition of organic matter
 Anaerobic process
 Where the sewage is highly concentrated and
contains plenty of solids, the anaerobic process
is highly effective
 The end products are methane, ammonia, CO2
and H2
 The reactions are slower and mechanism is
complex
MODERN CARRIAGE SYSTEM
 Primary treatment
 Screening
 Grit chamber
 Primary sedimentation
 Secondary treatment
 Biological treatment
 Final sedimentation tank
1. Screening
 Sewage pass through a metal screen which
intercepts large floating objects such as
 Pieces of wood
 Rags
 Masses of garbage
 Dead animals
 Their removal is necessary to prevent clogging
 The screen consists of vertical or inclined steel bars
set in 5 cm apart
2. Grit chamber
 Sewage passes through a long narrow chamber
called the grit chamber or “Detritus chamber”
 Length about 10-20 m
 Function of grit chamber
 They allow the settlement of heavier solids such as sand
and gravel
 Permit passage of organic matters
3. Primary sedimentation
 Sewage is now admitted to huge tank called
“Primary sedimentation”, large and rectangular
shape
 Changes
 Solid settles down under the influence of gravity: 50-70%
 Reduction of coliform organism: 30-40%
 Scum, grease and fat rises to the surface
4. Secondary treatment:
 The effluent stills contains organic matter,
organisms and solid and scum
 Has high demand for oxygen
 Aerobic digestion done by
 Trickling filter method
 Activated sludge process
4a. The trickling filter
 Also called percolating filter: bed of crushed stones
or cinker
 1-2 m deep and 2-30 m in diameter
 A revolving device with hollow pipes having rows of
holes
 Over the surface and throughout, a very complex
biological growth consisting of algae, fungi, protozoa
and bacteria, also called “Zoogleal layer”
4b. Activated sludge process
 Another modern method of purifying process,
suitable for larger cities
 The build of “Aeration tank”
 The organic matter of sewage gets oxidized into
CO2, nitrates and water with the help of aerobic
bacteria
 The typhoid and cholera are definitely destroyed
including coliforms are greatly reduced
5. Secondary sedimentation
 The remaining sludge after treatment are
detained for 2-3 hours
 Inoffensive, rich in nitrogen and phosphates
6. Sludge digestion
 Methods
 Anaerobic autodigestion: the complex solids are
broken down into water, CO2, methane and
ammonia
 The process takes place in: Sludge digestion
tanks”
 Takes 3-4 weeks
 The residue is in-offensive, sticky and tarry mud
 Disposal by dilution in rivers or streams
 Disposal on land: irrigation purposes
Other methods of sewage disposal
 Sea outfall
 River outfall
 Land treatment
 Oxidation pond
 Oxidation ditches
Other methods of sewage disposal
 Sea outfall
 Purification takes place by dilution
 Solids get slowly oxidized
 The offensive solid matter may wash
back to the shore and create public
nuisance
Other methods of sewage disposal
 River outfall
 Raw sewage should never be discharged
into rivers
 Must be purified first
Other methods of sewage disposal
 Land treatment or (sewage farming)
 After removal of grit
 Sugarcane, coriander, cucumber, tomato,
onion should not be grown
Other methods of sewage disposal
 Oxidation pond
 Cheap method
 It is an open, shallow pool 1-1.5 m, deep
with inlet and outlet
 Other requirement
 Growth of algae
 Bacteria that feeds on decaying materials

 Sunlight