Chapter 21Hygiene and sanitation
Chapter 21 · Advanced skills · 22 min read

Hygiene and sanitation

After a disaster, many people get sick from what happens in the following days: unwashed hands, uncontrolled feces, piled-up trash, flies, mosquitoes, and contaminated water. This chapter teaches you how to handle the bathroom when there is no water or no sewer, how to wash with very little water, how to manage the trash and your pets' waste in an apartment or house in extreme heat, and how to avoid the diseases that spread when many people share a space.

The essentials · if you only have a minute
  • Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after using the toilet, touching waste or trash, and before eating or preparing food. If there is no water, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
  • If the sewer works but there is no water at the tap, flush the toilet by pouring a bucket of water into the bowl all at once. Use non-drinking water.
  • If the sewer doesn't work or authorities ask you not to use it, don't flush: use a bucket toilet with a double bag and absorbent material.
  • Separate urine from feces if you can: the feces are the dangerous part, and kept separate they smell less and weigh less.
  • Store the sealed bags, double-bagged, in a container with a lid, away from food, water, pets, flies, and rats. Don't use quicklime.
  • Empty anything that collects water every week: that breaks the cycle of the mosquito that transmits West Nile virus.
  • Anything soaked by floodwater that can't be dried within 24–48 hours, throw it out: mold is certain.

In this chapter

21.1Why sanitation kills more than the disaster1 min read21.2The toilet when there is no water1 min read21.3If the sewer works: bucket flush1 min read21.4If the sewer doesn't work: bag in the bowl1 min read21.5Bucket toilet (two buckets)5 min read0/821.6Dog waste1 min read21.7Handwashing with little water1 min read0/521.8Improvised washing station1 min read21.9Personal hygiene with little water2 min read21.10Dishes and laundry with little water1 min read21.11Trash when there is no pickup1 min read21.12Pest and mosquito control1 min read0/521.13Mold after a flood1 min read21.14Preventing illness in a crowded home or a shelter1 min read21.15Common mistakes1 min read21.16Hygiene and sanitation kit: your household, 2 weeks1 min read0/34
Chapter sources (1)
  1. 1.Personal Hygiene During an Emergency — CDC — https://www.cdc.gov/water-emergency/safety/guidelines-for-personal-hygiene-during- an-emergency.html 2.What to Do During a Boil Water Advisory (trastes: 1 cdta de cloro por galón, 1 minuto) — CDC — https://dhmh.maryland.gov/preparedness/ Documents/BoilWaterAdvisory.pdf 3.Potential Sanitation Solutions During an Emergency Response — CDC — https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/sanitation/sanitation- emergency-response.html 4.Tips on Cleaning Mold After a Flood — CDC — https://blogs.cdc.gov/yourhealthyourenvironment/2018/09/28/tips-on-cleaning-mold-after- a-flood 5.A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home — EPA — https://www.epa.gov/mold/brief-guide-mold-moisture-and-your-home 6.Preventing Norovirus / Mosquito Bite Prevention / West Nile Virus — CDC — https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/ ; https://www.cdc.gov/west- nile-virus/ 7.Environmental health in emergencies: humanitarian emergencies — Organización Mundial de la Salud — https://www.who.int/teams/ environment-climate-change-and-health/water-sanitation-and-health/environmental-health-in-emergencies/humanitarian-emergencies 8.Brown J. et al. (2012), WASH in Emergencies: Summary Review (cita a Connolly et al., Lancet 2004) — SHARE/LSHTM 9.Survival Basics: Sanitation and Waste Management (EM 9334) — Oregon State University Extension — https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ catalog/pub/em9334-s 10.The Two-Bucket Toilet Solution — City of Wilsonville (Oregon) Emergency Management — https://www.wilsonvilleoregon.gov/ready/page/ two-bucket-toilet-solution 11.Emergency Sanitation (trifolio) — Seattle Public Utilities — https://seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Emergency/Preparedness/SPU Emergency Sanitation Trifold.pdf 12.Sanitation in an Emergency — Wayne County (Michigan) Homeland Security & Emergency Management — https:// www.waynecountymi.gov/ 13.Toilet Use During an Emergency — NC Department of Health and Human Services — https://www.ncdhhs.gov/toilet-use-during-emergency/ open 14.The Facts on Tampons — and How to Use Them Safely — FDA — https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/facts-tampons-and- how-use-them-safely 15.Metro Health Confirms Positive West Nile Virus Mosquito Sample — City of San Antonio — https://www.sa.gov/Directory/News-Releases/ Metro-Health-Confirms-Positive-West-Nile-Virus-Mosquito-Sample 16.San Antonio Water System (SAWS), emergencias 210-704-7297 — https://www.saws.org