Water pollution can affect people’s health. Bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases like typhoid, cholera, encephalitis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, skin infection, and gastrointestinal diseases can spread through polluted water increasing the probabilities of overloading the capacity of excreta management systems due to diarrhoeal and vomiting cases. This impacts efficiency and capacity (that is increased amount of excreta generated due to health burdens).

In addition, proximity between water tubewells and latrines, soil porosity, groundwater table, topography, drainage, and stability of slopes, may result in pollution of wells from surface water, sewage, sludge, solid waste leachates, chemical spills, etc and subsequent sickness or disease.

Women often bear cleaning responsibilities and in many cases also are responsible for the disposal of human waste. During menstruation, pregnancy, and postnatal stages the need for adequate sanitation becomes even more critical and Toilet-avoidance dehydration is a particular health threat.

Women are acutely aware of safety and privacy issues associated with the need for sanitation. In addition, cultural norms of femininity impose their own demands, for example, in some societies, pregnant women should not be seen in public, and pregnant women are prohibited from using public facilities. In other cultural settings, daughters may not use the same latrine as their fathers or fathers-in-law.

The environmental implications of not considering gender in excreta management activities are related to the pollution of soil and water resources due to improper design of facilities that force women and girls to use other spaces for their needs, but that are not suitable to receive the organic loads and contaminants from human waste.

In addition, given that a lot of foreign items that might block sewage systems may be introduced by women (due to childcare (nappies) or hygiene (menstruation / sanitary towels), the sensitisation messages could be particularly targeted through spaces or structures where women can be most easily accessed. For example, question and answer sessions in meetings of women’s groups or similar.

Air pollution
Soil pollution
Water pollution
Eutrophication
Loss of biodiversity and ecosystems
Natural Resource Depletion
Soil erosion

Construction of sanitation facilities can lead to the following environmental impacts:

Unsustainable depletion of natural resources to provide construction materials.

Air, water, soil pollution, and damage to ecosystems from leaked sewage. Blockage of drainage channels and watercourses; increase in waste dumping and/or waste going to landfill, and increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Reduction in surface water infiltration and groundwater depletion due to excess or soil compaction. Stripping of natural vegetation and reduction in soil quality, nutrients, and ultimately soil loss.

Construction and operation of sanitation facilities can lead to the following environmental impacts:

Unsustainable depletion of natural resources to provide construction materials. Air, water, soil pollution and damage to ecosystems from leaked sewage, contamination of groundwater/drinking water supplies, and spread of disease. Blockage of drainage channels and watercourses; increase in waste dumping and/or waste going to landfill; increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Reduction in surface water infiltration and groundwater depletion due to excess or soil compaction. Stripping of natural vegetation and reduction in soil quality, nutrients, and ultimately soil loss. Construction materials can consume non-renewable or low-regenerative-capacity natural resources impacting negatively the areas where they are extracted. For example, deforestation in order to obtain wood or river banks erosion due to sand extraction activities.

Source sustainable materials.

Design sufficient capacity to avoid leakage and overflow and to prevent access of disease vectors.

Develop a construction management plan, identifying areas to protect.

Assess and protect natural drainage.

Minimise and re-use construction waste.

The environmental impact of constructing sanitation facilities can be mitigated through several measures, including ensuring construction materials are sourced from sustainable/renewable sources and are of high quality and durable.

Material lifecycle, from extraction to eventual re-use or disposal, should be considered. Latrines should be designed to provide sufficient capacity in terms of cubicles, hand washing facilities, privacy, sewage capture, transport, and treatment capacity. Design to ensure sewage will not leak or overflow to pollute the surface, soil, or groundwater, or create stagnant pools where disease vectors can multiply.

The initial design should promote future recycling, reusing, or repurposing. A construction management plan should be developed and should identify natural resources and ecosystems to protect. It should also identify and protect natural drainage channels and assess ground conditions and plan to ensure the ground is not over compacted. The plan should also ensure construction waste is minimised through efficient construction methods and through identifying, separating, and re-using all construction waste.

In many countries, the environmental impacts of constructing sanitation facilities include the unsustainable depletion of natural resources to provide construction materials. They also frequently include air, water, and soil pollution and damage to ecosystems; blockage of drainage channels and watercourses; increase in waste dumping and/or waste going to landfill; increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Construction activities can lead to a reduction in surface water infiltration and groundwater depletion due to excess or soil compaction.

Stripping of natural vegetation cover and reduction in soil quality, nutrients, and ultimately soil loss can also occur. Construction materials can consume non-renewable or low-regenerative-capacity natural resources impacting negatively the areas where they are extracted. For example, deforestation in order to obtain wood or river banks erosion due to sand extraction activities.

The UK has reduced this impact over time through a combination of promoting recycling, reducing packaging, campaigning to change public behaviors, increasing taxation on waste taken to landfills, as well as undertaking environmental impact assessments to fully understand the potential impacts on natural resources, rivers, air, soil and groundwater, and then developing plans to avert or substantially reduce these potential impacts.

Percentage (by unit so it can be comparable) of renewable, recyclable, and reused materials used in the construction of water and sanitation facilities.

Prevention of environmental damage

Time, resources, and expertise to source sustainable materials, design latrines of adequate capacity and quality, and management expertise in designing and implementing effective construction management plans.