The Collection of Household Excreta: The Operation of Services in Urban Low-income Neighbourhoods

THE DISPOSAL OF human excreta is often presented as the most significant problem facing low-income urban settlements in the South. Water-borne sewage systems are often too expensive or too difficult to implement, and other solutions require careful maintenance by users and owners in order to be safe and effective. This book, part of a series on urban waste, addresses the management of pit and bucket latrines. Unlike the wide range of publications that focus more on the construction of individual facilities, this focuses on how to keep them functioning well and how to avoid risks to public health. The book grows out of the experience gained in Dar es Salaam through the MAPET project (Manual Pit Emptying Technology and Service) and the desire to compare this with similar experiences in other cities.

Four case studies are presented here, from Ghaziabad in India, Accra in Ghana, Yichang in China and the MAPET case, and the range allows for a consideration of a variety of socioeconomic, physical and cultural conditions which influence the management of household excreta collection. The MAPET case study is enriched by the addition of a chapter presenting a financial analysis of the project.

The book also includes a literature review and two final chapters which are based on discussions at a workshop attended by researchers from each of the case study projects. This overview compares and contrasts the various programmes and offers conclusions about the necessary conditions for improving household excreta collection.