AFFORDABLE RURAL SANITATION TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS: BASIC TOILET CARE AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL

Table of ContentsI. Rationale2II. What is a hygienic toilet?3a.Definition of a hygienic toilet3b.What should be found in the toilet?4III. The Proper Way to Clean Toilets4a.Frequency4b.What to Use in Cleaning5c. Dos and Donts of the Toilets5IV. Trouble Shooting Tips8V. Signs That the Concrete Ring or Plastic Drum Needs Desludging9a.Approximate Period of Mandatory Desludging10a.Illustrative Process of Manual Desludging12VI. Signs That the Leaching Pit Needs Cleaning or Replacement of Element12VII. Simple Upgrades for Longer Service and Beauty15

I. Rationale

This manual is an output of the ABCDE Foundation in its task commissioned by WB-Water and Sanitation Program to Develop a Rural Sanitation Product and Service Model Design in the Philippines. It is one of the reference manuals developed to provide a comprehensive guide towards proper maintenance and care of toilets to ensure toilet maximized service life and therefor support sustained ZOD in rural communities.

Diseases can be spread through users, thus, using clean and safe toilets, keeping water sources clean, and disposing of garbage properly should be a habit. Toilets are used daily and it is important to keep them hygienic and sanitary. Furthermore, a well-maintained toilet can increase its functional life resulting in sustained convenience and even savings on unnecessary repair expenditures

This document is intended to emphasize proper toilet maintenance to be done by members of the household themselves. Although almost everyone seem to know how to clean the toilet; not everyone can maintain the cleanliness of the toile, perhaps due to their busy schedules or because it is not their priority. Toilet sanitation, while conveniently ignored, has great influence on the familys health and even budget.

II. What is a hygienic toilet?a. Definition of a hygienic toiletA hygienictoiletis asanitationfixture used primarily for the disposal of human urine and feces that has the following basic characteristics:

Has a flooring that is easy to clean Is free of unpleasant odor Does not contaminate underground water source Does not contaminate the top soil Does not attract disease spreading insects and pests Free of leakages and clogs Provided with bowl cover Free of scattered trash

b. What should be found in the toilet? Water for flushing, washing Water for washing hands Soap Garbage can with cover Old newspaper for wrapping sanitary napkins Any other medium for anal cleaning For arborloo toilets, ash or saw dust or any similar medium tobe used to negate the unpleasant smell

III. The Proper Way to Clean Toiletsa. FrequencyCleaning the toilet is every users responsibility. Below are suggested frequency of cleaning:ActivityFrequency

FlushingCleaning the bowl Every after useDaily but more frequent if necessary

Emptying garbage binDaily

Cleaning the floorDaily but more frequently if necessary; must be kept dry and clean

Cleaning the surrounding of the toiletDaily

Cleaning water containerWeekly

Cleaning the wall and roofWeekly

General cleaning of the toiletEvery two weeks

b. What to Use in CleaningUse water and soap in cleaning the toilet and avoid using chlorine (Zonrox) and other chemicals since these Can kill beneficial microorganisms that help destroyharmful microorganisms in the digestive chamber of the toilet. Can cause quick deterioration of the light materials Can damage the toilet bowl finish, and, as a consequence,,Accelerate she fading and deterioration of the toilet bowl.

c. Dos and Donts of the ToiletsThere are affordable arborloo and pour-flush toilets recommended in this manual.

Care should always be observed not to wet the walls when taking a bath and or washing of clothes inside the toilet; this can hasten the deterioration of the light materials that are used in constructing it.Maintain clean and sufficient water for anal washing and ensure soap is available.Do not load bowls with solid objects such as napkins, cigarette butts, kitchen waste, etc.Regularly clean the bowl and must be covered when not in use.Following are some of the items that should and never be done in either pour-flush or standard toilets:

Dont build a fire near the toilet superstructure or housing as it is only made of light materials.Repair must be done right away when there are observed damages in any part if the toilet so as not to further aggravate the damage.

Do not use the toilet as a storage area for non-toilet equipment/materials.

Important consideration for pour-flush toilet care and maintenance:

Check the volume of the accumulate waste in the septic tank and desludge properly when the septic tank is full already.

Important consideration for arborloo toilet care and maintenance:

Water should not be poured inside the toilet pit.

Add 1 cup of charcoal ash or saw dust every after defecating to remove foul odor.

Other Dos and Donts of the toilet facility:

Ensure that all facilities are clean and in a good condition. (E.g. taps, basins, paper holders, door locks, toilet seats, mirrors, light switches etc.)

Ensure that cleaning materials are properly kept and notwithin the reach of children.

IV. Trouble Shooting TipsThere are actual situations where even before the estimated desludging time is reached, the toilet systems would stop working efficiently or would not work at all. These situations would require some trouble shooting interventions that are simple to do by the household before calling a professional plumber. However, Should the household owner feels that he cannot do the steps enumerated below or has done them and the problem persists, it is advisable to get professional assistance:.a. The most common problem is the non-flushing of the toilet bowl:i. If the estimated time of has not been reached, then the P-trap section of the bowl might be clogged with hard objects such as plastic shampoo or soap sachets, face towels, solid anal cleaning materials such as old newspapers, etc.ii. Using a manual rubber vacuum,force out any object inside the P-trap.Manual rubber vacuums are available in most of the hardware stores. iii. Lye can also be used for minor clogging. Consult the hardware store on how to use it. Keep out of reach of children.iv. The same procedure can be used in case the toilet floor gets flooded. Using the manual rubber vacuum, try pumping out the materials causing the clogging through the p-trap on the floor of the toilet.v. However, if the problem persists, ask assistance from the qualified neighborhood plumber.

V. Signs That the Concrete Ring or Plastic Drum Needs DesludgingSolid concrete rings and plastic drums when used as alternative human excreta receptacles have distinct loading capacities and these are dependent on the total number of household users and the actual volume of the receptacles. Common signs which signals that desludging services may be necessary are the following: Water back flow Foul smell within the vicinity of the toilet Slow draining toilet or backing up of wastewater at the inlet. Overflow of wastewater from the tank The estimated capacity when desludging may be needed is reached and above signs are beginning to show.

Table below shows the approximate period of use of the different types of waste receptacles prior to possible desludging:a. Approximate Period of Mandatory DesludgingALTERNATIVE SEPTIC TANKQUANTITYPERIOD OF USE PRIOR TO DESLUDGING (5 MEMBER HOUSEHOLD)

1 footer solid concrete ring5 pieces (5 feet)3 years

2 footer solid concrete ring2 pieces (4 feet)2 years

1 footer solid concrete ring4 pieces (4 feet)2 years

220 liter plastic drum1 piece1 years

220 liter plastic drum2 pieces2 years

Call a professional desludging service for your desludging needs. Use desludger that will properly dispose of the sludge.

BREAKING DEVELOPMENT: A manual equipment has been developed and will soon be available in your community. Pictures below show its successful test run. It took a total of about an hour to desludge a drum waste receptacle. Inquire from your Barangay if this service is already available in your community.Actual trial run of the Manual Desludging Equipment

Steps in Desludging Using the Manual Deslugding Facility1. Prepare the manual desludging equipment including the sealed plastic container for the sludge.2. Thoroughly Mix/stir 5kg powdered ash to the 10L water (5kg powdered ash:10L water) in a bucket.3. Pour or flush the mixture into the bowl.4. Open the 4 clean-out PVC pipe5. Stir the contents of the waste receptacle for about 5minutes.6. Install wooden platform for the operator to step-on when desludging.7. Insert the desludging equipment through the 4 PVC clean-out opening.8. Attach a flexible hose to the 3 PVC outflow pipe while the other end of the flexible hose will be attached to the container sludge.9. Pump the manual desludging equipment through it its handle.10. Transport the sludge to the localized sludge treatment facility the lagooning design principle with a minimum size of 3m by 3m.

a. Illustrative Process of Manual Desludging

MaskGlovesBoots/closed shoesLong pants/jeans

VI. Signs That the Leaching Pit Needs Cleaning or Replacement of ElementSigns that the leaching pit needs cleaning or replacement of elements:1. When the flushing of the bowl becomes very slow even though estimated desludging schedule has not been reached,2. When the recommended time of eight months for cleaning the leaching pit elements is reached.;3. When the leaching pit has been unintentionally dug or tampered for some reason.

A. Proper Disposal of Used Leaching Bio-Sand Filter Elements Dis-infect used leaching bio-sand filter elements before disposal to avoid health and environmental risks and breeding of illness carrier like flies, mosquitoes, rodents, cockroach, etc. Bleaching/Chlorine can be used as disinfectant Properly place it in a closely tight container or plastic. Dig a pit in a non-flooded or soggy area and burry it.

B. Management of Bio-sand Leaching ChamberBio-sand leaching chamber needs proper management in order to function well. The following are some steps for proper chamber management: The household should do this procedure at least every 8 months. Wearing a face mask, rubber hand gloves, and using a spade, dig the upper layers of the leaching pit until the gravel enclosing the perforated end of the 2 PVC is reached. Uing a small shovel, scoop the gravel including more or less 2 inches of sand after the gravel and place it in a container i.e. an empty 4 liter paint can. Clean the pipe especially the perforations to clear it of any matter that may have cause clogging; place the collected matter in the container. After clearing the PVC pipe, put additional sand and gravel to replace the displaced volume of sand and gravel that were taken out. The collected sand, gravel, and other materials that caused clogging previously placed in the container should be mixed with half a can of ashes. Dispose these by burying them inside a small pit of about 2 feet deep of soil.

C. Ensure that the leaching chamber will be properly re-constructed as the original.

Illustration on the specifications of the leaching chamber.

VII. Simple Upgrades for Longer Service and BeautyThere are unlimited ways of upgrading and beautifying the prototype toilets. These are actually determined by the households initiative and creativity. The following are just some of the upgrading options that can done on the basic units: From nipa shingles roofing to GI sheets From amakan made walling to ferrocement From ordinary cemented flooring to tiled flooring From un-painted to painted or varnished walls Adding curtains towels, other decorations Planting of flowers around the toilet Putting plants inside the toilet Using shower curtains as substitute wall paper

The following are actual examples of upgrades done by households:

Using water curtain as wall covering of the Fencing Painting of the toilet Amakan made walling of the toiletwalling

Upgraded to tiled flooring.