EMERGENCY TOILETS & GARBAGE DISPOSAL (44)
What will you do if your toilet stops flushing and you can't get anyone to take your garbage away?
lf an emergency causes your toilets or garbage service to stop working you MUST find a way to
safely dispose of the human waste (sewage) and garbage yourself.
lf you don't, you will soon be spending most of your time and energy treating sick people, including yourself.
The three most important things to do are:
1, Bury or store all garbage and human waste at least 100 feet away from water wells or open water.
2. Keep flies, roaches and animals out of the sewage and garbage;
3.Wash or clean your hands when ever you handle something dirty and BEFORE you handle
anything that you will be putting into your mouth or someone else's mouth.
TOILETS
#1 - lf the toilet bowl and seat in your home are still usable (not wrecked) scrub the bowl
clean using one part of laundry bleach to ten parts of water (10:1).
When clean, drain the bowl and dry it. Line the bowl with a plastic or paper bag. Line the inside
of the first bag with a sturdy plastic bag and lay the toilet seat on it to keep it open.
Use the toilet as you normally do. After every use, sprinkle the waste with the bleach/water
solution mentioned above or cover it with a layer of sawdust, wood shavings, lime, dry dirt,
grass clippings, etc. Limiting the liquids that go into the bowl will make it easier to change the bags.
When the bag is full or you can't stand the smell anymore, carefully tie the top of the bag tightly closed,
remove it and replace with another bag. Dispose of the waste using the instructions below.
Other chemicals that can be used in place of liquid chlorine bleach are: HTH (calcium hypochlorite),
which is available at swimming pool supply stores and is intended to be used in solution.
Following the directions on the package it can be mixed and stored.
Caution: Do disinfect drinking water as it kills all the beneficial bacteria in the intestinal
tract and thus cause s mild diarrhea. Portable toilet chemicals, both liquid and dry are
available at recreational vehicle (RV) supply stores. These chemicals are designed especially
for toilets which are not connected to sewer lines.
Use according to package directions. powdered, chlorinated lime is available at building
supply stores. lt can be used dry. Be sure to get chlorinated lime, not quick lime which is
highly alkaline and corrosive.
Caution: Chlorinated products which are intended to be mixed with water for use can be
dangerous if used dry. You may also use powdered laundry detergent, Lysol, Pinesol,
ammonia, or other household cleaning and disinfecting products
#2 - lf your toilet bowl is not usable, use a five gallon bucket, wooden box or some other
container sturdy enough to sit on. Sit the seat from your toilet on the bucket or make one
from layers of heavy cardboard glued together, two boards laid across the top with a gap
Between them or cut a seat from plywood. Line with bags as outlined in #1 above.
Dispose of the full bags using the instructions below,
#3 - lf the emergency will only last for a day or two, you can use "cat holes" outside.
These are small, onetime personal use holes you dig in the ground and squat over.
The hole should be deep enough to cover your waste at least six inches deep when filled.
Do nor do this any closer than 100 feet from open water or water wells or the
germs in the sewage will get into the water.
#4 - lf the emergency will last more than a week and your toilet or bucket commode
no longer will do the job you need to make a latrine. Use a shovel or post-hole diggers
to dig a pit four to six feet deep and about one foot wide.
Place a bucket, box, barrel or anything with a hole in it that you can sit on over the pit.
Whatever you use must cover the pit tightly so that flies cannot get in while no one
is using it. The seat and box must be cleaned regularly with the bleach water solution
mentioned above and kept tightly covered when not in use. When the pit fills to within
eighteen inches of the top, fill the hole in with clean dirt and mound it over.
Cover the mound to keep animals from digging it up.
DISPOSING OF WASTES: All wastes must be buried no closer than 100 feet
from the nearest open water or water well or the germs will get into the water.
Buried wastes must be covered with at least eighteen inches of dirt and protected from animals digging it up.
GARBAGE is trash that has food or anything else in it that would make attract insects, rats and other animals.
It should not be allowed to accumulate where these pests can get into it. lf garbage service
is expected to resume in a few days then dry garbage should be tightly sealed in bags or
kept in tightly covered garbage cans. Liquid wastes that don't have a lot of fat in them can
be poured out outside if kept more than 1 00 feet away frorn open bodies of water and water wells.
Liquids that do have a lot of fat should be buried to prevent attracting flies and roaches.
l. All stored garbage should be buried if collection service is not restored and if unpaved yard areas
are available-keep a shovel handy for this purpose. Dig a hole deep enough to cover it with at least l8-24
inches of dirt, which will prevent insect breeding and discourage animals from digging it up.
2. Other rubbish may be burned in open yard areas (if permission is granted by authorities
under existing conditions) or left at dumps established by local authorities.
Cans should be flattened to reduce their bulk.
Do not deposit ashes or rubbish in streets or alley ways without permission.
Such material may interfere with the movement and operation
of fire-fighting and other emergency equipment.