The Never-Ending Problem of Human Waste: Field Hygiene and Sanitation – Part Three, by LiquoredRabbit
Why should I care about Field Hygiene and Sanitation? – Part One, by LiquoredRabbit
“Wash Your Damn Hands”: Field Hygiene and Sanitation – Part Two, by LiquoredRabbit
Fun Fact:
During Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia from 1990-1991, sanitation measures were either non-existent or insufficiently regulated at ports and other locations with high troop concentrations. As a result, soldiers were compelled to navigate areas where human waste was leaking from outdoor latrines to access shower facilities, they also were too close together. In conjunction with other sanitation concerns, these unsanitary conditions were significant contributors to the outbreak of numerous cases of Shigella, a diarrheal disease.
Identifying the problem.
Nature is always calling and finding the right place for it all to go can become an issue, but necessary to keep disease out of camp. There are many ways to solve the problem of where this waste can go, but each solution needs to be tailored to each group and what will work for them. Also, balance that with other important factors to maximize these facilities’ efficiency. The two largest factors are the group’s overall size and the terrain type that they are residing in. This mainly refers to whether the soil is easy to dig into as well as where the water table lies in that area. As most of these solutions require a lot of digging, having full-size shovels will be necessary. Although it can be done with e-tools it is a horrible experience (trust me it sucks) and makes this crappy task even worse. The best-case scenario is having a small backhoe or other earthmoving equipment, which will come in handy for this task and save a lot of time and effort. There are also specific distances that these facilities need to be located. Those being, at least 300ft downwind and downhill from any food, at least 100ft from any ground-water source, and at least 100ft from any sleeping areas but within a reasonable distance for easy access and at least 3 feet above the water table (TB 593). The other limitations can be the material needed to construct some of these, such as nonporous material, or additional dirt. Make sure you scout your area thoroughly first and think of all these factors when choosing your solutions, because you don’t want to get halfway through building one of these just to find out you can’t complete it for some reason, or your facility isn’t large enough, forcing you to build another one sooner than anticipated.
What are some of the options?
Each one of these options has its pros and cons, but the main ideas remain the same. Disposing of waste as far and as deep as practically possible, keeping the facility as ergonomic as possible, while also trying to keep as much rainwater and flies away as you can. To find out roughly how many latrines you will need plan to have 1 toilet seat per 25 males or 17 females. Also, plan that each person will have 1 bowel movement per day and urinate about 3 times per day, this is to help how long a latrine can be open before needing to be filled in and closed. As always nothing is exact, but this is a great starting point to keep in mind. I have also put these options in order of practicality, trying to balance out the ease of construction, with the capacity, while also keeping in mind special considerations like equipment/ logistical requirements or tactical considerations. More or less I do not believe any of these options to be “bad” but the requirements to run/ maintain may not be practical for the guerrilla.
Straddle Trench Latrine
This is a simple shallow trench that is narrow enough to straddle and squat over. They usually are no deeper than 2 ½ feet, this helps to keep them above the water table, but because of that they are only intended to be used for about 3 days if you have a lot of people in your camp. One 4-foot-long trench is sufficient for 50 males or 34 females. That would be approximately 110-150 uses before needing to be closed.
This latrine is very simple to make and only requires a little digging. Each should be 2 ½ ft deep, 4 ft long, and 1 ft wide. Do not go over 1 ft as then you will not be able to squat over the trench easily. Make sure to have a place to keep the toilet paper off the ground and covered to keep it dry, add on some tarp walls for privacy, and you’re ready to go. The latrine should be closed and filled with dirt when waste reaches about 1 ft from the top of the trench.
To use this latrine, you will squat over it, with the trench in between your legs. Also, have a place to keep the toilet paper off the ground and covered to keep it dry. You can add some helpful amenities to help keep people from falling in. I would recommend plywood or something sturdier for your feet to step on and a handrail or rope to help keep your balance throughout this wonderful experience. This facility also requires each user to cover their feces with a thin layer of dirt to keep the flies down.
Deep Pit Latrine
This is a much larger facility; it is much deeper and wider to accommodate a lot more waste. Consequently, in areas where the water table is too high other options will need to be used. This is also the case if the ground is too hard to hand-dig and no earth-moving equipment is available. Once constructed, this facility can stay open for weeks or even months depending on the depth of the hole. This option will also need a toilet seat box to sit on top of the hole, this is needed because of the larger size, but adds to the comfort of the facility as well as keeps the flies down because of the seat lid. The example below will accommodate over 1,875 uses before needing to be filled and closed. For a group of 10 that would be about 187 days of use. This is only one example, the size can be changed as needed, just make sure a toilet box can fit on top securely. The latrine should be closed and filled with dirt when waste reaches about 1 ft from the top of the trench.
When building this make sure you double-check where this will be placed as a lot of digging is needed to complete this facility. The measurements to make this facility will be dependent on how large your toilet box will be. For example, the 4-seat box depicted would be 8 feet long, 2 ½ feet wide, and 16 inches tall. Add a lid for each seat, as well as something to deflect any urine from hitting the wall of the box instead of going into the pit. This also helps to prevent erosion from occurring within the pit walls. The pit underneath would be 8 ft long and 2 ft wide. The depth, as referenced by ATP 4-25.12, should “equal one foot for each week the latrine will be used, plus one foot for the dirt cover for when the latrine is closed.” The only problem is that in our SHTF scenario we don’t know the length of time we will need it, so I recommend sticking with 6 ft deep unless you have the means to internally support the walls from collapsing. That 6-foot depth will give you 5 feet of usable space.