Keeping water supplies clean - Build an outhouse; Good Health Lesson 4

There are areas where no plumbing, sanitation or toilets are available such as in some rural areas, refugee camps or squatter camps. If human waste is not properly disposed of, unpleasant disease can result. If you are in one of these areas, why not do as community members of an outlying district where I did volunteer work did - build outhouses. 

Wooden houses (the old fashioned pit latrines) were built in the countryside, with buckets underneath the wooden seat which could be easily removed regularly, cleaned and disinfected. Remember not to built your outhouse near a river, well or water supply. 

Also be careful - if you built an outhouse higher than a water supply and very near to it, any human waste not disposed of carefully can seep into the ground and filter through rainwater down the embankment into the drinking water supply. So build at least 50 feet away from a water supply, and not on a higher level than the water supply.

Stuart Michael M gives excellent advice on how to build an outhouse. Please find the link;
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Build-an-Outhouse-Yourself&id=4280816

Becky Lower gives directions on building the box structure, cutting sheets of plywood and the measurements needed, building a seat box, screens, ventilation and vent pipe. Please find the link;
http://www.ehow.com/how_6917762_construct-outhouse.html

Please remember that any time you use equipment such as a saw, hammer, nails or other equipment, there is a great risk of hurting yourself or others. Ask around and either get an expert to make the outhouse for you, or supervise your making of the facility. Your personal health and safety is always a priority.

If you wish to use concrete, we have made concrete many times in many outlying areas. The same principle applies; ask someone who is an expert in making concrete to help you. There is a definite knack. And be careful to keep little children and pets away from the drying concrete. 

I used to sit with a book and read next to my drying concrete until it had safely hardened with no possibility of being written in or hurting anyone while hardening. Good luck with your outhouse!

*With thanks to Stuart Michael M and Becky Lower for their invaluable information