Penulis
Article By: FahimMalekzai / Nekmal Blog
Sanitation refers to the provision of facilities and services
for the safe disposal of the human feces, urine, and provision of clean
drinking water. Sanitation system consists of five modules including
containment, emptying, transport, treatment, and reuse/ disposal. These are the
measures which are taken to improve the health and well-being of people
individually as well as collectively. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of diseases worldwide and improving sanitation has a significant beneficial
impact on health both in households and across communities. Adequate
sanitation, together with good hygiene and safe water, is fundamental to good
health and to social and economic development. This includes using clean and
safe toilets, keeping water sources clean and disposing of garbage safely.
Sanitation is the subject that affects the health and well-being of the
population, food production, and the environment. Sanitation plays an important
role in protecting the environment and promoting sustainability.
Inadequate sanitation, particularly in the context of
urbanization, allows sewage or waste to flow directly into streams, rivers,
lakes, and wetlands, affecting clean sources of drinking water,
fouling the environment and exposing a major part of the population to a number of diseases. Good sanitation and waste management help to keep
people separate from potential sources of pathogens. They reduce the risk of
contaminating water supplies with pathogens and discourage the transmission of
disease.
We can divide sanitation into two categories namely urban
sanitation and rural sanitation. Both types need to be addressed properly.
People living in rural areas usually do not have access to improved sanitation,
no modern flush systems, no proper handwashing practices observed. Open
defecation is very common in rural areas which frequently cause the spread of
infectious diseases, a major source of clean drinking water contamination and a
breeding ground for vectors. The types of latrines used are pit latrines with
open doors and no hygienic measures. These people are largely illiterate,
unaware of hygienic principles. There is also no proper management of solid
waste although its production in rural areas is less. Similarly, when we
consider the urban sanitation system, it needs much more attention, effective management, and greater resources to bring it into streamline. There
are modern toilet facilities used but the wastewater generated needs to be
managed effectively. The wastewater generated includes residential, Commercial,
Industrial, Institutional, Combine–Residential & Commercial, Health
Facility’s, Wastewater generated from Slaughtering Houses, Wastewater from
Mosques and any other wastewater such as from Public Latrine, Bakeries, Parks
and so on. The open defecation is less in cities. Solid waste dumped around in
the open environment which needs proper management.
A proper Sanitation system also effectively covers solid waste
management. Effective management of solid garbage keeps the streets,
roads, avenues, and environment, clean and odor-free. With the rapid growth of
population everywhere around the city heaps of solid dumped illegally in the
open places can be seen. There is no effective solid waste management,
treatment and safe disposal system in Afghanistan. This situation needs to be
addressed properly in order to avoid or even minimize the consequences of a
polluted environment. Solid waste is generated and collected from
different areas, sources and is of different types. It includes waste collected
from residential areas, commercial markets, grocery shops, waste collected from
educational institutions. Solid waste from health care facilities needs special
management as it is considered in nature as infectious.
Afghanistan has not that much good sanitation and hygiene
conditions. In Afghanistan, about 20.6 % of total deaths are attributable to
worsened conditions of drinking water, hygiene, and sanitation-related causes
(WHO 2004). There are no certain permanent fecal sludge disposal facilities
available to the citizens of Afghanistan. According to this fact and figures
especially in rural areas of Afghanistan people still go for open defecation.
According to a UNICEF/WHO joint monitoring program (JMP) for water supply,
sanitation and hygiene report a survey conducted on sanitation in the year 2015
indicates that still, Afghanistan lacks much behind the other countries in the sanitation sector. Afghans (6 out of every 7 persons) still live under poor
hygienic circumstances. According to the modified definition of Sanitation from
ALCS only 39 percent of households have access to improved sanitation
facilities in Afghanistan which is a very critical condition.
The sanitation conditions of Afghanistan’s major cities are by
any means not satisfactory. The large cities of Afghanistan including Kabul
being the capital city, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, Nangarhar, and Herat have no
sewerage systems for wastewater, no up to mark canalization which could handle
the daily flow of wastewater. In addition to all this, there are no wastewater
or fecal sludge treatment plants. So all this wastewater from various sources
flows directly to the open environment and causes multiple environmental and
health hazards. Let’s take the example of Kabul city, where the population is
increasing day by day. The sanitation condition is very alarming. There is a
lack of proper disposal of the fecal sludge. There is no proper sewer system
to carry the wastewater away, dispose it in a safe way at a regular disposal
facility. Similarly, it also lacks a proper human excreta treatment system. This
all has led to a very alarming condition of sanitation and hygiene. The trucks
carrying the fecal sludge from the septic tanks, pit latrines, and other
possible sites discharge it illegally either within the city or unfortunately
into the Kabul River. This has led to environmental pollution, underground
water pollution and the spread of different diseases.
Consequences of poor
sanitation: If sanitation is not taken care of such as proper toilet
facilities, safe habits of human excreta disposal, proper sewerage techniques,
proper solid waste management, waste is disposed of in the streets creating a
foul smell and terrible living conditions for inhabitants. Most people have
limited knowledge and understanding of the good hygienic practices which could
reduce the health risks from poor sanitation, hygiene and waste management.
Urban areas are characterized by poor sanitation conditions, indiscriminate
dumping of wastes and non-availability of adequate toilet facilities. Thus as a
result of poor sanitation, the untreated human waste finds its way into
rivers, polluting the water and posing a health risk to those depending on this
water for bathing and cleaning purposes. Many human infections are spread
through contact with human excreta. Bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasitic
worms cause many diseases that are spread by direct contact with feces or
indirectly via contaminated food and soil. Similarly,
unimproved management of solid waste also results in the spread of infectious
diseases and pathogenic microorganisms. In rural areas, people are more
vulnerable to infectious diseases because of widespread open defecation,
unhygienic habits, and non-existence of standards latrines. The diseases caused
put an extra burden on common people in terms of treatments, visiting hospitals
and paying a fee of doctors and medicines. This puts further pressure on
government, government health care facilities and constrains the financial
resources.
Talking of solutions that should be done to change the current
situation of poor sanitation in our country particularly in large cities. First
of all, the government must pay serious attention to the sanitation sector. The private sector can be included to aid the government in the improvement of sanitation. With the
sanitation fee presently being taken from households and other various sources, an effective and reliable policy should be established. For effective waste
management, our policy should be based on three types of future plans. First of
all local short term sanitation improvement programs be started. Onsite
sanitation facilities must be improved, modern latrines systems should be
employed, unhygienic practices should be discouraged. Awareness campaign
regarding home sanitation, hygienic principles should be carried out. Secondly, there should be a focus on the construction of Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
Systems (DEWATS). These can be constructed for commercial buildings,
apartments, government institutions, educational institutions, and residential colonies. In the third phase, the long term plan should be to build
facilities such as centralized wastewater and fecal sludge treatment plants.
Planned and engineered sewerage and canalization system for water drainage must
be built in the city linked to treatment plants. In the case of solid waste
management, it also requires planned practical work. The current condition of
Kabul city in this regard is awful. There is no solution to this problem has
been found by the Municipality. This problem should also be addressed on an emergency basis to keep the city clean. Effective management is the key to the
solution of this problem. Apart from other strategies to address solid waste
management, solid waste segregation at source point can be carried out. The
waste can be segregated into biodegradable, non-biodegradable and recyclable
and non-recyclable wastes. Many of the solid waste thrown out can be
effectively recycled. This reduces the volume, generates revenue and becomes a
source of job creation. It requires less energy, money, and efforts to recycle a
waste than to make it again. The biodegradable waste can be used for biogas
generation, composting to make manure, etc. in rural areas, human waste along
with solid biodegradable waste after co-composting is an effective type of
manure used in farms for better crop production. Similarly, human waste along
with cow dung is a good source of energy production in the form of biogas which
is cheap, efficient and free of cost.
About the Author
Eng. Fahim Malekzai has done
Civil Engineering from the University of Salam, Kabul Afghanistan. He was the head
of the Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant Project, Ministry of Urban Development and
Housing. He has worked as a Construction Manager in BORDA (Bremen Overseas
Research and Development Association) in Kabul, Afghanistan and has gained 13
years general worked experience, Presently he is working with CRIDA (Central
Region Independent Development Authority) as S/W Design Engineer from various
national and international organizations and 8 years of specific experience in the
field of sanitation.