Everyone must have proper sanitation, clean water and handwashing facilities to protect their health and prevent the spread of deadly diseases such as Covid-19, cholera and typhoid.
On Thursday the world commemorated World Toilet Day (WTD), an annual global event organised by United Nations Water to raise awareness of the crucial role that sanitation plays in reducing disease, thereby creating healthier communities.
By sanitation we refer primarily to the sanitation value chain in relation to human waste.
A toilet is designed in such a way that human waste does not come into contact with the user.
Safe containment deals with how human waste is processed and stored, for example in a tank or channelled to a sewage network.
When toilets are connected to a tank, we refer to it as on-site sanitation.
Human waste is collected until the tank is filled and then emptied – either manually or mechanically using tankers.
In the case of a sewer system, human waste is transported through a piped network to a sewage plant where effluents are treated for safe disposal or reuse.
In most cases in rural areas, on-site sanitation facilities are used.
Improper management of any of these aspects would consequently release human waste into the environment and bring it in contact with people.
WTD 2020 focuses on sustainable sanitation and climate change.
Climate change is becoming worse.
Floods, drought and rising sea levels are threatening sanitation systems everywhere – from toilets to septic tanks to treatment plants.
Challenges
Inequality in relation to access to proper sanitation continues to persist, especially in rural areas.
Government needs to expand access to safe toilets.
We need a diverse and adaptive set of solutions and interventions to tackle the challenges impacting vulnerable groups.
Significant progress has been made in improving sanitation in rural provinces with large traditional settlements.
There is a noticeable decline in the percentage of households who reported living more than 200 metres away from an outside yard toilet facility.
In the Eastern Cape, for example, household access to improved sanitation facilities increased by 54,6% between 2002 and 2018, growing from 33,4% to 88,0%.
Flushing toilets connected to public sewerage systems were most common in the most urbanised provinces, namely Western Cape (89,1%) and Gauteng (88,6%).
Only 26,5% of households in Limpopo have access to any type of flushing toilet, the lowest of any province.
To ensure a more coordinated approach to water and sanitation management, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, the Department of Water and Sanitation developed the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan (NWSMP), which identified the priority actions required until 2030 and beyond to ensure water security and equitable access to water and sanitation services are available to all South Africans.
Working together is imperative to achieve these goals and the private sector must be involved.
Community participation is also imperative to help address the sanitation challenges.
Constructing toilets and sanitation systems that work in harmony with the environment is crucial.
When nature calls, we have to listen and act.
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