CENTRAL BUILDING RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ROORKEE-247667 (INDIA)

BUILD NG RESEARCH NO E

B.R.N.34

LOW COST SANITATION FOR RURAL & URBAN HOUSES

Introduction tried in India but these suffered from the

nuisance of odour and fly breeding. The pits get
Poor health in developing countries is largely
filled up soon necessitating a change of site. The
due to diseases like cholera, dysentery,
design was improved with the addltion of a
gastroenteritis and worm infections carried by
concrete pan and water seal trap to cut out odour
contaminated food, water and ground. Effective
andflies.
sanitation is an important way of reducing the
incidence of such diseases but modern water­ A number of efforts have been made since 1930,
borne sanitation system is not possible in many to further improve the design, as a result of which
parts of the world due to its high cost and more than a dozen designs of sanitary latrines
shortage of water. High cost of providing sewers have been developed varying from the simplest
for rural as well as urban areas having low design of bore-hole type to the complex design
density makes them non-acceptable due to of Electrolux Vacuum System . Their applicability
financia l constraints. Therefore, it is important to and acceptance depend on the preferences
search for appropriate alternatives . based on availability of space, local soil
conditions and finance. Each of them has
In India a large number of people have no
potentiality of its adoption under different
latrines or have bucket or dry latrines, specially in
circumstances.
rural areas condition is worse in comparison to
these national average and majority of people However, a design for wider application should
resort to open air defecation. Statistics reveal be simple, inexpensive in construction and
that 120 million people in the world are without should provide freedom from odour, unsightly
adequate water supply and 1350 million without conditions, handling of fresh excreta and its
sanitary facilities. World average for people contact with flies and animals. It should eliminate
having access to sanitary facilities in rural areas chances of contamination of surface soil, and
is 15 per cent. surface and ground water that may enter the
springs or wells.
Bore-hole latrines with precast slabs had been ,.
In add ition to these basic criteria the following Nagpur and as already adopted by Indian
requ irements have to be considered while Standards Institution (lSI), New Delhi is
proposing any excreta disposal system for recommended for adoption due to its low water
developing countries : requ irement for flushing and low cost. The
design consists of cement concrete/mosaic
1. Daily operation should require minimum
F. R. P.Nitreous china pan, known in the market
education and gu idance to users of all
as PRAI Type Seat, or Rura l Pan. P-shaped trap
ages.
having 20 mm water seal, foot rests . The trap is
2. Cost of the system should be with in the connected to chamber with S.W.G. pipe or
reach of users. cement pipe which permits ease in shifting the
connection to the second leaching pit when the
3. Construction of the system should be
first gets filled up after the stipulated period of 5
based mainly on the use of local materials
years . The first pit can be emptied for successive
and its maintenance shou ld be possible
use after a further lapse of 3 to 5 years and the
with sem iskilled labour, available in the
contents can be used as manure.
area.
2. Size of Latrine
4. Requirement of water for transport and
treatment should be minimum. Size of 75 cm x 90 cm is the minimum but it
needs strict superv ision and co ntrol of
5. The system should include the possibility
dimensions while fixing the pan and foot rests to
of improvement in future when economic
maintain proper clearances. Fat and tall people <

cond ition of the users improves . .

fee l it a bit congested. The size of 80 cm x 100
CBRl's Contribution cm is more appropriate and optimum to satisfy all
the persons. Therefore, 80 cm x 103 cm size is
This Institute has studied different types of
adopted after cons idering the size of the brick
designs available for construction of low cost
available in the market.
rural and urban latrines to suggest econom ically
viable and acceptable solutions for developing 3. Materials and Construction
countries. Different aspects li ke size of th e super­
Nine different specifications for the construction
structure, type of latrine pans and water sea l,
of latrine , sixteen for lining the leaching pits and
different specifications for construct ion of
four for pit covers were fi nalized alter considering
leaching pits incl uding their distance from one
the materials and skills ava ilable in different
another and from existing buildings have been
parts of the country. The materials used include
examined . Following reco mmendations are
brick, concrete, ferro-cement, empty bitumen
made on the basis of these studies :­
dru m, bamboo mats and earthen rings . Typical
1. Type of Latr; ne designs using brick (due to their availability in the
most of the areas) with brief specifications are
Hand-flushed water seal latrine seat proposed
shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. However, drawings
by Planning Research and Action Institute
proposing use of other materials can be made
(PRAI), Lucknow and National Environmenta l
available on specific requirement.
Engineering Research Institute (NEERI ),
4. Infilterative Capacity ofSoils has been observed that making two leaching pits
together with a commo n wal l is eas ier to
It has been observed that the infilterat ive
construct.
capacity i. e. rate of percolation of water
decreases after first use of the leaching pit due to 6. Distance of Leaching Pits from Existing
deposition of organ ic matter in between the soil Buildings
part icles . This can be improved by keepi ng the
When the depth of leaching pit goes 100 cm
pit open to sky.tor one month after removing the
below the foundation of the buildings, the
decomposed excreta during dry weather and
minimum distance of a leaching pit from ex isting
digging the bottom of pit to remove part of the
structure can be 85 cm for clayey sand and 125
soil.
cm for sandy clays. This distance can be
Studies have also been carried out on water­ adjusted proportionately when the depth of
percolation in leaching pits with honey comb leaching pit below the foundat ion var ies.
brick wall and with solid brick wa ll without plaster
7. Volume of Leaching Pits
or pointing; with impervious floor and without
fl oor. Effect of wa lls with or without honey com b Studies have been conducted In cl ayey soi l
brick work was found to be inSignificant but that having low rate of water percolation and in sandy
of floors was very high. It is, therefore soil having very high rate of percolation . It has
recommended that the wa lls of leaching pit been fo und th at in the f irst case the
should be made solid but without plastering or decomposition of excreta takes place in wet
pointing to make them structurally strong and to condition and volume of sludge reduces to 27 to
avoid caving of soil. The floor should, however, 30 lit. per person per year. In sandy soil , water
be without any lining except in high subsoil water get s absorbed much faster and the
tab le areas where it has to be impervious to decomposit ion of excreta takes place in sem i dry
reduce chances of pollution. cond ition, thus producing a spongy mass, the
volume of which varies from 45 to 58 lit. per
5. Distance Between Leaching Pits
person per year. The volum e of leaching pit has
A minim um distance of one metre IS been based on the average va lues of 44 lit. per
recommended between two leaching pits to person per year and a pit of 1.1 cubic metre
avoid seepage of water from one to the other. capacity will therefore, serve five users for about
However, where space available fo r the purpose 4 years in sandy soil and 6 years in clayey soils.
is very limited, and the two leaching pits can be
8. Optimization ofLeaching Pit
built together it is proposed to divide them with a
common impervious wal l between them (Fig. 2) Two basic shapes i. e. , square and circu lar were
thus permitting perco lation of water in three studied for structural stability and ease in
directions only. This is better achieved by making construction. It has been found that the size of
two square pits together as one rectangu lar pit leaching pit being sma ll , there is no sign ificant
and extending the dividing wall about 30 em difference in the structural properties of the two.
below floor level and plastering the same with However, construct ion of a circular pit needs
cement sand morter (1 : 4) on Doth the sides . It skilled labour and proper care wh ile the square
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Fig. 1 : LOW COST LATRI E

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SECTION AT B-B
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30

PLAN OF PIT COVER

(REINFORCEMENT OET.)

PREFAB BRICK
PANELS WITH ,·e BK. JAU rn' r.~.::;~fi;~:~:OT;::.
BAR ON EACH
PANEl.. BOTHWAYS I ~200 J
IN DECK CONe • .
SECTION OF PIT COVER
( REINFORCEMENT DET.l
BK. WORK IN
CEMo MORTAR I: I)

1:4 CEMENT SAND

PLASTER
MUD MORTAR
PACKING

1200 g

BK. WORK
3 0..l...
0 IN CEMo
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CoCo 1 1 8:1~ OR
SRICK WORK IN
CEM. MORTAR.I:6

SECTION AT A- B

FOR RURAL AREAS

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BOTH WA'IS
1150 X 540
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LEACHING PlT

SECTION AT 8-8

Fig. 2: lWlN LEACHING PIT FOR LATRINE ,.

one is easy to construct for most of the masons. Field Experiments
Other parameters like structural,safety of the pit
The latrines described ab ove have been
and its cover, handling of the covers by the
constructed in Roorkee town and Mewad Ka lan,
labour, absorption characteristics of the soil,
Khanjarpur and other villages for indi vidua l
working space required by labour during
owners and by Sulabh International , Patna for
construction and removal of decomposed
making feed back stud ies . Fo llo wing
excreta and minimum cost of the leaching pit,
observations have been made :­
when considered together, lead to the
conclusion that optimum diameter and depth for 1. Owners, masons and labourers preferred
circular pit should be 1.07 m and 1.22 m two square pits built together, with solid
respectively for five users for five years. Similarly partition wa ll against two circular pits due
width and depth for square pits should be 0.92 m to ease in construction, in digging of pits
and 1.2 m respectively. and less space required to accommodate
them .
9. Pollution Aspect in High Subsoil Water
Level Areas 2. 11 .5 cm (4 :h ") thick wall for lining the
leaching pit behaves better than ~. 5 cm
Water discharged along with the excreta gets
(3" ) thick wall due to ease in laying and
absorbed underground and has potential danger
better stability against concentrated
of mixing up with subsoil water and this carrying
lateral loads.
contami nation for long distances. Safe distance
to avoid these chances has been recom mended 3. Solid R.C .C. pit cover, 7.5 cm th ick with
as 2 m between the bottom of the pit and sub soil sufficient re inforcement shou ld be
water tab le but it is not always possible to provided to avoid any accident due to
ma intain this. In many places the subsoi l water unexpectedly high loads or point load
tab le is so high as to cause direct mixing of the caused by cattle.
water discharged with excreta, with it. There is a
4. All the latrines are working sati sfactori ly
need to avoid such mixing and therefore the
and their demand has increased
design is not suitable for such locations . It is
manifold .
proposed to make the bottom of the pit
impervious by using polythene sheet and filling Cost
45 cm thick layer of fine sand around the pit act
The cost of latrine upto pl inth level and with
as fi lter to reduce the chances of pollution. This
superstructure'have been estimated as Rs, 4550
Institute has also develop a low cost alternative
and Rs. 7600 respectively at Roorkee market
to solve the problem of excreta disposal for areas
rates in Jan 2004. Details of material and labour
with very high subsoil water level. It consists of a
requirements are given in AppndicesA and B.
decomposition tank and two leaching pits. The
night soil is allowed to pass to the leaching pits Conclusion
after it has completely decomposed. The details
Satisfactory performance of the low-cost
of the system can be supplied on demand.
sanitary latrines built at various places tias
paved the way towards a solution of the problem APPENDIX B
Low initial expenditure and maintenance cost Materials and labour requirement for
makes them more acceptable even to the construction of low cost latrine (complete).
weaker section of society.
Materials

APPENDIX A 1. Cement 6.5bags

Material and Labour requirement for 2. Sand 1.0m 3
construction of low cost latrine up to 3. 1st class brick 1180 nos
PLINTH LEVEL only 4. Stone Aggregate 12 mm &
Down gauge 0.3m 3
Materials 5. Brick Aggregate 40 mm size 0.12 m3
6. M.S. Bar6 mm dia 13.0 Kg
1. Cement 4.5bags 7. Door shutter complete
3
2. Sand a.6m including painting 1 no.
3. 1st class brick 750 nos 8. W.C. Seat with trap one set
4. Stone Aggregate 12 mm & 9. Footrest one pair
Down gauge 0.2 m3 10. Binding Wire 200gms
5. Brick Aggregate 40 mm size 0.12 m3
6. M.S. Bar6mmdia 10.5 Kg Labour
7. W.C. Seat with trap one set
8. Foot rests one pair Skilled 8man days
9. Binding Wire 200gms Unskilled 14mandyas

Labour

Skilled 4mandays
Unskilled. 8mandyas

Prepared by Narendra Verma Published by: Central Building Research Institute

Revised by Y.K. Batra Roorkee-247667
Printed April 2004 E-malJ : director~cbrlmajl.com
Website : wWw.cbrl.org

Edited by: Or Arul Kumar Agarwal & Shrl Olnesh, Sclentlst$, Printed at: Paramount Orfset Prlnter$ 7, Avas VlkM, Roorkee Ph. 261178,' 264117