Water and sanitation are critical determinants for survival in the initial stages of a disaster. People affected by disasters are generally much more susceptible to illness and death from disease, which are related to a large extent to inadequate sanitation, inadequate water supplies and poor hygiene. The most significant of these diseases are diarrhoeal diseases and infectious diseases transmitted by the faeco-oral route. Other water- and sanitation-related diseases include those carried by vectors associated with solid waste and water.
The main objective of water supply and sanitation programmes in disasters is to reduce the transmission of faeco-oral diseases and exposure to disease-bearing vectors through the promotion of good hygiene practices, the provision of safe drinking water and the reduction of environmental health risks and by establishing the conditions that allow people to live with good health, dignity, comfort and security.
Simply providing sufficient water and sanitation facilities will not, on its own, ensure their optimal use or impact on public health. In order to achieve the maximum benefit from a response, it is imperative to ensure that disaster-affected people have the necessary information, knowledge and understanding to prevent water- and sanitation-related disease, and to mobilise their involvement in the design and maintenance of those facilities.
In most disaster situations the responsibility for collecting water falls to women and children. When using communal water and sanitation facilities, for example in refugee or displaced situations, women and adolescent girls can be vulnerable to sexual violence or exploitation. In order to minimise these risks, and to ensure a better quality of response, it is important to encourage women's participation in water supply and sanitation programmes wherever possible. An equitable participation of women and men in planning, decision-making and local management will help to ensure that the entire affected population has safe and easy access to water supply and sanitation services, and that services are equitable and appropriate.
The groups most frequently at risk in emergencies are women, children, older people, disabled people and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH/A). In certain contexts, people may also become vulnerable by reason of ethnic origin, religious or political affiliation, or displacement. This is not an exhaustive list, but it includes those most frequently identified.
The Minimum Standards
The aim of any water and sanitation programme is to promote good personal and environmental hygiene in order to protect health. Hygiene promotion is defined here as the mix between the population's knowledge, practice and resources and agency knowledge and resources, which together enable risky hygiene behaviours to be avoided. The three key factors are 1) a mutual sharing of information and knowledge, 2) the mobilisation of communities and 3) the provision of essential materials and facilities. Effective hygiene promotion relies on an exchange of information between the agency and the affected community in order to identify key hygiene problems and to design, implement and monitor a programme to promote hygiene practices that will ensure the optimal use of facilities and the greatest impact on public health. Community mobilisation is especially pertinent during disasters as the emphasis must be on encouraging people to take action to protect their health and make good use of facilities and services provided, rather than on the dissemination of messages. It must be stressed that hygiene promotion should never be a substitute for good sanitation and water supplies, which are fundamental to good hygiene.
Hygiene promotion standard 1:
programme design and implementation
All facilities and resources provided reflect the vulnerabilities, needs and preferences of the affected population. Users are involved in the management and maintenance of hygiene facilities where appropriate.
Some key indicators
Key hygiene risks of public health importance are identified.
Programmes include an effective mechanism for representative and participatory input from all users, including in the initial design of facilities.
All groups within the population have equitable access to the resources or facilities needed to continue or achieve the hygiene practices that are promoted.
Hygiene promotion messages and activities address key behaviours and misconceptions and are targeted for all user groups. Representatives from these groups participate in planning, training, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Users take responsibility for the management and maintenance of facilities as appropriate, and different groups contribute equitably.
Water is essential for life, health and human dignity. In extreme situations, there may not be sufficient water available to meet basic needs,and in these cases supplying a survival level of safe drinking water is of critical importance. In most cases, the main health problems are caused by poor hygiene due to insufficient water and by the consumption of contaminated water.
Water supply standard 1: access and water quantity All people have safe and equitable access to a sufficient quantity of water for drinking, cooking and personal and domestic hygiene. Public water points are sufficiently close to households to enable use of the minimum water requirement.
Some key indicators
Average water use for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene in any household is at least 15 litres per person per day.
The maximum distance from any household to the nearest water point is 500 metres.
Queuing time at a water source is no more than 15 minutes.
It takes no more than three minutes to fill a 20-litre container.
Water sources and systems are maintained such that appropriate quantities of water are available consistently or on a regular basis.
Simplified table of basic survival water needs
Survival needs: water intake (drinking and food)
2.5-3 litres per day
Depends on: the climate and individual physiology
Basic hygiene practices
2-6 litres per day
Depends on: social and cultural norms
Basic cooking needs
3-6 litres per day
Depends on: food type, social as well as cultural norms
Total basic water needs
7.5-15 litres per day
Maximum number of people per water source
250 people per tap
based on a flow of 7.5 litres/minute
500 people per handpump
based on a flow of 16.6 l/m
400 people per single-user
open well
based on a flow of 12.5 l/m.
Water supply standard 2: water quality Water is palatable, and of sufficient quality to be drunk and used for personal and domestic hygiene without causing significant risk to health.
Some key indicators
There are no faecal coliforms per 100ml at the point of delivery.
People drink water from a protected or treated source in preference to other readily available water sources.
Water supply standard 3: water use facilities and goods People have adequate facilities and supplies to collect, store and use sufficient quantities of water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, and to ensure that drinking water remains safe until it is consumed.
Some key indicators
Each household has at least two clean water collecting containers of 10-20 litres, plus enough clean water storage containers to ensure there is always water in the household.
Water collection and storage containers have narrow necks and/or covers, or other safe means of storage, drawing and handling, and are demonstrably used.
There is at least 250g of soap available for personal hygiene per person per month.
Where communal bathing facilities are necessary, there are sufficient bathing cubicles available, with separate cubicles for males and females, and they are used appropriately and equitably.
Where communal laundry facilities are necessary, there is at least one washing basin per 100 people, and private laundering areas are available for women to wash and dry undergarments and sanitary cloths.
The participation of all vulnerable groups is actively encouraged in the siting and construction of bathing facilities and/or the production and distribution of soap, and/or the use and promotion of suitable alternatives .
Safe disposal of human excreta creates the first barrier to excretarelated disease, helping to reduce transmission through direct and indirect routes. Safe excreta disposal is therefore a major priority, and in most disaster situations should be addressed with as much speed and effort as the provision of safe water supply.The provision of appropriate facilities for defecation is one of a number of emergency responses essential for people’s dignity, safety, health and well-being.
Excreta disposal standard 1: access to, and numbers of, toilets People have adequate numbers of toilets, sufficiently close to their dwellings, to allow them rapid, safe and acceptable access at all times of the day and night.
Some key indicators
A maximum of 20 people use each toilet.
Use of toilets is arranged by household(s) and/or segregated by sex.
Separate toilets for women and men are available in public places (markets, distribution centres, health centres, etc.).
Shared or public toilets are cleaned and maintained in such a way that they are used by all intended users.
Toilets are no more than 50 metres from dwellings.
Toilets are used in the most hygienic way and children’s faeces are disposed of immediately and hygienically.
Excreta disposal standard 2: design, construction and use of toilets Toilets are sited, designed, constructed and maintained in such a way as to be comfortable, hygienic and safe to use.
Some key indicators
Users (especially women) have been consulted and approve of the siting and design of the toilet.
Toilets are designed, built and located to have the following features:
- they are designed in such a way that they can be used by all sections of the population, including children, older people, pregnant women and physically and mentally disabled people;
– they are sited in such a way as to minimise threats to users, especially women and girls, throughout the day and night;
– they provide a degree of privacy in line with the norms of the users;
– they allow for the disposal of women’s sanitary protection, or provide women with the necessary privacy for washing and drying sanitary protection cloths (see guidance note 4);
All toilets constructed that use water for flushing and/or a hygienic seal have an adequate and regular supply of water.
Pit latrines and soakaways (for most soils) are at least 30 metres from any groundwater source and the bottom of any latrine is at least 1.5 metres above the water table. Drainage or spillage from defecation systems must not run towards any surface water source or shallow groundwater source.
People wash their hands after defecation and before eating and food preparation.
People are provided with tools and materials for constructing, maintaining and cleaning their own toilets if appropriate.
Articles from "The Sphere Project".
The Sphere Project was launched in 1997 by a group of humanitarian NGOs and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.
Sphere is based on two core beliefs: first, that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and second, that those affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity and therefore a right to assistance. Sphere is three things: a handbook, a broad process of collaboration and an expression of commitment to quality and accountability. The project has developed several tools, the key one being the handbook. Visit the Sphere project website for more information.
