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Water & Sanitation

Water is a basic human right. In emergencies, adequate quantities and quality of water are not easily accessible, creating a major health hazard. Proper sanitation is a key aspect of the hygiene cycle involving water and health. The resources in this Water and Sanitation section of the Pakistan Relief Toolkit focus on the immediate measures needed to protect human life and health as well as longer-term interventions that address the needs of the affected population over the months and possibly years after the immediate disaster. Also see the general disaster relief guides in the Key Resources section of this toolkit.

Emergency Sanitation for Refugees

No Date | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC]

The immediate provision of clean water supplies and sanitation facilities in refugee camps is essential to the health, well-being and, in some cases, even the survival of the refugees. Sanitation is usually allocated a much lower priority than clean water, but it is just as important in the control of many of the most common diseases found in refugee camps. Sanitation is the efficient disposal of excreta, urine, refuse, and sullage. As indiscriminate defecation is normally the initial health hazard in refugee camps, this Technical Brief outlines ways

Emergency Water Supply

No Date | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC]

This is an overview of the principles of providing water in emergency situations. It outlines the planning procedures necessary for ensuring adequate supply, rather than focusing on design. As well as food, shelter, and medical aid, providing clean water is usually one of the highest priorities in the event of an emergency. It should be considered alongside immediate sanitation measures, however, which are just as important in controlling many of the most common diseases found in disaster situations.

Fact Sheet on the Management of Waste During Emergencies

No Date | World Health Organization [WHO]

Fact Sheet on the Management of Waste During Emergencies

Frequently Asked Questions in Case of Emergency

No Date | World Health Organization [WHO]

The information below gives responses to questions that are likely to be frequently asked during an emergency. They are divided into four categories — Health risks linked to drinking-water and sanitation; health risks due to stagnant water; immediate actions that should be taken in respect of water, hygiene, and sanitation; and the nature of WHO's response to the emergency.

Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage

No Date | World Health Organization [WHO]

Household water treatment is effective, simple, and inexpensive. It is especially applicable to populations recovering from a disaster situation who often lack facilities and resources. This document reviews the available technologies

How to Prevent Cholera

No Date | Hesperian Foundation

How to prevent cholera (English)

Fact sheet on how to prevent, identify, and treat cholera, and how to make water safe for cooking and drinking.

Minimum Standards: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion

No Date | Sphere Project

This chapter is divided into eight main sections:Common standard, WASH, Hygiene Promotion, Water Supply, Excreta Disposal, Vector Control, Solid Waste Management and Drainage. Each contains the following:

Rodents in Disasters

No Date | Pan American Health Organization [PAHO]

Rodents in Disasters (English)

Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, with rats and mice belonging to the suborder Myomorpha. Members of the Muridae family are the dominant species in every region of the world, due to their ability to adapt to and exploit new situations. Commensal rats and mice, that is those that live at the expense of humans, invade their dwellings, eat their food, upset their comfort, and frequently transmit diseases to them, belong to this family.

Sanitary Guidelines for Camps and Shelters

No Date | Pan American Health Organization [PAHO]

Sanitary Guidelines for Camps and Shelters (English)

"Sanitation" is defined in this guide as all activities involved in proper water supply management and excreta and solid waste disposal. Mounting a sanitation system in shelters and camps must not only involve the use of simple engineering techniques but consider social and cultural factors at the site of the intervention as well as the costs. It is important to establish the necessary coordination with the institutions responsible for basic sanitation (municipios, civil defense, ministry of health, water and sewerage companies, and others).

Clean Hands Save Lives!

2009 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]

Clean Hands Save Lives! (English)

Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. It is best to wash your hands with soap and clean running water for 20 seconds. However, if soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based product to clean your hands. Alcohol-based hand rubs significantly reduce the number of germs on skin and are fast acting.

Food and Water Concerns

2008 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]

Food and Water Concerns (English)

Following are recommendations for storing and purifying water supplies.

Household water treatment and safe storage in emergencies

2008 | International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Household water treatment and safe storage in emergencies (English)

A field manual for Red Cross/Red Crescent personnel and volunteers.

Household Water Treatment Options in Developing Countries: Solar Disinfection (SODIS)

2008 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]

Household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) interventions are proven to improve water quality and reduce diarrheal disease incidence in developing countries. Four of these proven HWTS options – chlorination, solar disinfection, ceramic filtration, and flocculation/disinfection – are widely implemented in developing countries. Oganizations wanting to develop HWTS programs are often faced with the difficult decision of selecting which optionor options are appropriate for their particular circumstances.

Preventing Diarrheal Disease in Developing Countries: Proven Household Water Treatment Options

2008 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]

The health consequences of inadequate water and sanitation services include an estimated 4 billion cases of diarrhea and 1.9 million deaths each year, mostly among young children in developing countries. Diarrheal diseases lead to decreased food intake and nutrient absorption, malnutrition, reduced resistance to infection, and impaired physical growth and cognitive development. Since 1996, a large body of work has been published that has examined the health impact of interventions to improve water quality at the point-of-use through household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS).

Excreta disposal in emergencies

2007 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 250 p

The purpose of this manual is to provide practical guidance on how to select, design, construct and maintain appropriate excreta disposal systems in emergency situations. Relevant situations include natural disasters, relief for refugees and internally displaced people, and complex emergencies, focusing on rural and peri-urban areas.

Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies

2007 | Water, Sanitation and Hygiene [WASH]

This briefing paper is aimed at all those involved in facilitating hygiene improvement in an acute emergency context, especially WASH co-ordinators and programme managers. It aims to provide an overview of the focus and content of Hygiene Promotion interventions and why they must be integrated with hardware provision. More information on how to do Hygiene Promotion can be found in the resource documents listed in the appendix.

Guidelines for drinking-water quality, third edition, incorporating first and second addenda

2006 | World Health Organization [WHO]

Guidelines for drinking-water quality, third edition, incorporating first and second addenda (English)

The first and second editions of the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality were used by developing and developed countries worldwide as the basis for regulation and standard setting to ensure the safety of drinking-water. They recognized the priority that should be given to ensuring microbial safety and provided guideline values for a large number of chemical hazards.

Sanitation and Cleanliness for a Healthy Environment

2005 | Hesperian Foundation | 52 p

Sanitation and Cleanliness for a Healthy Environment (English)

This booklet offers basic information and learning activities to help communities understand and prevent sanitation-related health problems. It includes instructions for building several kinds of latrines, as well as ecological sanitation solutions.

WHO Technical Notes for Emergencies

2005 | World Health Organization [WHO]

These four-page illustrated notes have been prepared to assist those working immediately or shortly after an emergency to plan appropriate responses to the urgent and medium-term water and sanitation needs of affected populations. The notes are relevant to a wide range or emergency situations, including both natural and conflict-induced disasters. They are suitable for field technicians, engineers and hygiene promotors, as well as staff from agency headquarters.

Emergency publications on CD

2004 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC]

This pc compact disk comprises the electronic (pdf) files of the entire series of Emergency publications produced by WEDC to date. This is an invaluable and handy resource for all aid and development workers.

Emergency vector control using chemicals (2nd ed.)

2004 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 134 p

The control of vectors that transmit diseases in emergencies is critical to the prevention of epidemics. This handbook describes how such vectors can be identified and controlled using chemicals. Aimed at non-specialists such as logisticians, engineers and health workers, it provides advice on identifying the responsible vector, selecting the appropriate control chemical and the means of application, together with advice on planning an implementation programme.

Emergency water sources

2004 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 320 p

These guidelines have been designed to help those involved in the assessment of emergency water sources to collect relevant information in a systematic way, to use this information to select a source or sources and to determine the appropriate level of treatment required to make the water suitable for drinking.

Controlling and preventing disease

2003 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 292 p

Improving health is one of the main goals of water and environmental sanitation (WES) interventions. Despite this, many aid and development workers may have only a limited knowledge of the infections they try to prevent. Although the relevant information does exist, it is often scattered in specialised literature and rarely finds its way into the field.

Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disasters: A Practical Guide

2003 | World Health Organization [WHO]

Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disasters: A Practical Guide (English)

The WHO Guide to sanitation in natural disasters (Assar, 1971) summarized the essential aspects of environmental health management in disasters. These included the provision of emergency water and sanitation services; the burial or cremation of the dead; vector and pest control; food hygiene; and the assessment of the danger of epidemics following emergencies and disasters, etc. Thirty years later these aspects remain essential, though the needs, challenges and opportunities are greater.

Emergency Sanitation

2002 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 384 p

This book is designed to assist those involved in planning and implementing emergency sanitation programmes. The main focus of the book is a systematic and structured approach to assessment and programme design. It provides a balance between the hardware (technical) and software (socio-cultural, institutional) aspects of sanitation programmes, and links short-term emergency response to long-term sustainability. The book is relevant to a wide range of emergency situations, including both natural and conflict-induced disasters, and open and closed settings.

Emergency sanitation: Assessment and programme design

2002 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC] | 380 p

This book has been written to help all those involved in planning and implementing emergency sanitation programmes. Users may include field technicians, engineers and hygiene promoters, as well as technical and non-technical staff at agency headquarters. The authors have attempted to provide a balance between the hardware (technical) and software (socio-cultural, institutional) aspects of sanitation programmes.

Emergency Water Sources: Guidelines for Selection and Treatment

1997 | Water, Engineering and Development Centre [WEDC]

These guidelines have been designed to help those involved in the assessment of emergency water sources to collect relevant information in a systematic way, to use this information to select a source or sources and to determine the appropriate level of treatment required to make the water suitable for drinking.

Water Manual for Refugee Situations

1992 | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

Safe water is essential to life and health. People can survive longer without food than without water. Thus the provision of water demands immediate attention from the start of a refugee emergency. The aim is to assure availability of enough water to allow sufficient distribution and to ensure that it is safe to drink. Adequate storage and backup systems for all aspects of water supply must be assured, since interruptions in the supply may be disastrous.