Restoring sanitation services after an earthquake: field experience in Bam, Iran

Abstract

IntroductionThe restoration of sanitation services is one of the immediate priorities that aid agencies have to confront when organising assistance for victims of an earthquake. To do so, they must ensure that people have basic access to facilities, such as toilets and showers, allowing them to maintain as far as is possible their standards of hygiene. This will help to prevent the spread of communicable diseases (Wisner and Adams, 2002) and will considerably improve the quality of life of the survivors. Sanitation programmes are not limited to 'distributions', however. They also involve, inter alia, repairing and reconstructing structures or manufacturing prefabricated systems. They require materials, suppliers and, most importantly, time.Linking emergency operations and speed seems natural and the agencies involved in sanitation often have the feeling that they should sacrifice quality in order to achieve a quick result. The pressure increases with the gravity of the event. This is particularly true when an earthquake hits a city, generating a large number of casualties and causing extensive damage to infrastructure. This paper describes the sanitation programme carried out by the British nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Oxfam GB, to assist the victims of the earthquake that struck the Restoring sanitation services after an earthquake: field experience in Bam, Iran 223 the victims were functioning in the city centre, Oxfam initially worked in 11 villages on the outskirts of the city. A comparison is made here between the programmes of Oxfam and those of the other organisations. The discussion points to elements to consider when evaluating the quality of a response based on a chosen assistance strategy.

Short-term WASH interventions in emergency response: a systematic review

“…Rehabilitating latrines was better suited than temporary latrines because materials were locally and immediately available, longer lasting and more culturally appropriate with similar costs to other options (Pinera, Reed, and Njiru 2005).…”

“…Project related costs to build latrines (Private latrine: $130, Private latrine with shower: $220, Communal latrine: $850) (Pinera, Reed, and Njiru 2005) or approximate costs of a temporary latrine on a monthly basis (Initial cost: $25/unit/day with desludging; later negotiated to $9-13/unit/day with a six month contract) (Eyrard 2011) or just material costs (~$6.75) (Singh 2012).…”

Short-term WASH interventions in emergency responses in low- and middle-income countries

“…Cost of a latrine: Project-related costs to build latrines were: for a private latrine, US$130; for a private latrine with shower, US$220; for a communal latrine, US$850 (Pinera et al, 2005). In another study, the approximate costs of a temporary latrine on a monthly basis included an initial cost of US$25/unit/day with desludging; costs were later negotiated to US$9-13/unit/day with a six month contract (Eyrard, 2011).…”

Earthquake Disaster Risk Reduction in Iran: Lessons and “Lessons Learned” from Three Large Earthquake Disasters—Tabas 1978, Rudbar 1990, and Bam 2003

“…After the earthquake in Bam, health and the environmental conditions were affected by the shortage of drinking water, toilets, showers, waste collection and disposal, and more (Tierney et al 2005). The lesson brought to attention that local materials and human resources of Bam needed to be involved in the repair and construction of sanitation services, such as toilets and showers (Pinera et al 2005). The implementation of this lesson affected positively the well-being of survivors and their health.…”