Manual emptying of ventilated improved pit latrines and hygiene challenges - a baseline survey in a peri-urban community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Beukes, Lorika S.; Schmidt, Štefan

doi:10.1080/09603123.2020.1823334

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…In South Africa, vacuum tankers are not usually practical for emptying pit latrines, as some of the pit latrines are also used for domestic waste (Still et al, 2013). The majority of households (67.1%) seal the full pit latrine and dig another one because emptying manually the pit poses a serious health hazard (Beukes & Schmidt, 2022).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of fecal contamination sources of groundwater in rural areas of Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Sekgobela,

Murei,

Khabo‐Mmekoa

et al. 2023

Water Environment Research

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Groundwater is a valuable source of drinking water worldwide, recognized as an improved drinking water source. However, on‐site sanitation systems may put groundwater at risk of fecal contamination. In the present study, two approaches were used to ascertain the sources of fecal contamination in groundwater used by communities of the Vhembe District Municipality. Overall, 87.5% of boreholes (n = 70) in the wet and 72.5% in the dry season were contaminated with Escherichia coli, and septic tank (n = 18) wastewaters displayed up to 104 cfu/mL E. coli. Host‐specific Bacteroidales quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays established the presence of human (BacHum and HF183) and animal (Cytb, BacCan, and Pig‐2Bac) genetic markers in groundwater from 15.7% of boreholes (wet) and 10% of boreholes (dry). No strong associations were founded between culturable E. coli counts and the presence/absence of marker genes for all the markers except for Cytb marker, which showed a weak significant correlation (r = 0.217; p = <0.01) between E. coli and the Cytb marker under dry seasonal conditions. Human markers and Cytb were present in the household septic tank wastewater samples. Significant differences in marker genes distribution in wastewater were observed using the Chi‐squared test: HF183 (p = <0.001) and BacHum (p = <0.001). Overall, no association was recorded between markers in groundwater and in wastewater for 18 households' septic tanks. A combined culturable E. coli and host‐specific Bacteroidales qPCR assays remain an appropriate approach for the identification of fecal contamination of groundwater.Practitioner Points Households primarily used private boreholes for drinking water, as a primary source. Most households used on‐site sanitation systems, including ventilated improved pit latrines and flush toilets connected to septic tanks. Escherichia coli was detected in groundwater, and the sources of fecal contamination were humans and animals (pigs, dogs, and chickens). The presence of human and animal markers in groundwater suggests that humans and animals are liable for fecal contamination. Fecal contamination in drinking water sources poses a significant concern due to pathogenic microorganisms posing potential human health risks.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of fecal contamination sources of groundwater in rural areas of Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Sekgobela,

Murei,

Khabo‐Mmekoa

et al. 2023

Water Environment Research

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“…Pit latrine emptiers in India expressed that they face hazards such as direct contact with fecal sludge, exposure to noxious gases and chemicals, and risk of injury . The materials that sanitation workers handle harbor a range of waterborne bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens (World Health Organization, 2018), and antimicrobial resistance and multidrug resistant strains have been found in these pits (Beukes et al, 2022).…”

Section: Author Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable sanitation- how can we improve sanitation systems in the global south?

2023

Frontiers Research Topics

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Frontiers is more than just an open access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to realize our grand goals. Frontiers journal seriesThe Frontiers journal series is a multi-tier and interdisciplinary set of openaccess, online journals, promising a paradigm shift from the current review, selection and dissemination processes in academic publishing. All Frontiers journals are driven by researchers for researchers; therefore, they constitute a service to the scholarly community. At the same time, the Frontiers journal series operates on a revolutionary invention, the tiered publishing system, initially addressing specific communities of scholars, and gradually climbing up to broader public understanding, thus serving the interests of the lay society, too. Dedication to qualityEach Frontiers article is a landmark of the highest quality, thanks to genuinely collaborative interactions between authors and review editors, who include some of the world's best academicians. Research must be certified by peers before entering a stream of knowledge that may eventually reach the public -and shape society; therefore, Frontiers only applies the most rigorous and unbiased reviews. Frontiers revolutionizes research publishing by freely delivering the most outstanding research, evaluated with no bias from both the academic and social point of view. By applying the most advanced information technologies, Frontiers is catapulting scholarly publishing into a new generation. What are Frontiers Research Topics?Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers journals series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area.

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“…Qualitative estimates on the likelihood of ingesting feces in different pit latrine emptying processes have been described (Stenström et al, 2011), but do not indicate steps that are Frontiers in Environmental Science frontiersin.org more prone to these more indirect routes. As an emptier works along the emptying process, the presence of fecal indicators such as Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli on work and household surfaces (i.e., walkways between pit latrines and handles on municipal vehicles) increases (Beukes and Schmidt, 2022).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The materials that sanitation workers handle harbor a range of waterborne bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens (World Health Organization, 2018), and antimicrobial resistance and multidrug resistant strains have been found in these pits (Beukes et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using illustrated system analysis for qualitative risk assessment of emptying of pit latrines

Tsai

Wilson²,

Reyes³

2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Pit latrines as the primary means of sanitation for billions of people. Fecal sludge must be removed regularly when pit latrines fill up, and the workers who empty these latrines are essential service providers. Pit latrine emptying services and approaches are highly variable, ranging from highly trained teams using vacuum trucks with a suite of personal protective equipment to individuals with no protection using simple manual tools like buckets and shovels. While national governments and nonprofits endeavor to make pit latrine emptying safer, the people making day-to-day decisions such as local pit emptying associations, sanitation businesses, utilities, and local governments have limited resources to evaluate how different emptying practices vary in terms of risk. In this paper we describe the development of an open-source Illustrated System Analysis tool for the fecal sludge management community. This tool can be used in conjunction with a simple risk assessment matrix to help decision makers describe, compare, and prioritize risks for mitigation. We demonstrate this process by outlining how a pit emptying team can compare mechanical and manual emptying with respect to ingestion of fecal material and inhalation of fecal bioaerosols. Illustrated System Analysis can be a tool to analyze fecal sludge management systems, and the associated challenges and opportunities so that they could be understood and referenced by the wider public and used to spark innovation. We provide a library of graphics freely under creative commons.

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Manual emptying of ventilated improved pit latrines and hygiene challenges - a baseline survey in a peri-urban community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Cited by 4 publications

References 42 publications

Identification of fecal contamination sources of groundwater in rural areas of Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Identification of fecal contamination sources of groundwater in rural areas of Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Sustainable sanitation- how can we improve sanitation systems in the global south?

Using illustrated system analysis for qualitative risk assessment of emptying of pit latrines

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