WASH in Alaska - A toilet Story

12/11/2023

What if you invested $1 in WASH systems? Then we will save $4.3 in health costs, like medical care or sick days! Worth it doesn’t it?
Investing in prevention systems might seem expensive and useless at first, but the costs of not having WASH systems are much bigger. By asking the government to invest in water, sanitation, and hygiene systems, we reduce the economic, physical, and mental burden of it.

More info on https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html

12/11/2023

It is time for a new quiz. Test your knowledge about WASH systems!

It is time for a new quiz! Will you take up the challenge? Good luck!

12/08/2023

The Honey bucket (spoiler alert: Nothing honey related!) is a simple bucket in which we place a plastic bag, and is then used as a toilet pit. The waste can then be carried out by hand but with a high risk of contact and contamination with human waste. It is used in numerous communities in Alaska because there is no other way to evacuate waste from the house or no toilets.
Sometimes there is no bathroom, and the bucket is simply in a corner of the room, and because the sewage lagoon is far away, bags can stay just outside the house for several days.
It is time to put Honey Buckets in a museum, and to ensure proper water, sanitation, and hygiene systems for everyone in Alaska!

Eichelberger et al. (2021). Implications of inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure for community spread of COVID-19 in remote Alaskan communities. The Science of the Total Environment.
Mattos et al (2021). Household Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices Impact Pathogen Exposure in Remote, Rural, Unpiped Communities. Environmental Engineering Science.
Picture: Author: CambridgeBayWeather
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

12/08/2023

Permafrost (this thick subsurface layer of soil that remains below freezing point throughout the year) is one of the reasons why the pipe system is difficult to build in the Arctic. Latrines (outhouses with pits dug into the floor) are also not always possible. In addition, its melting damages existing systems and leads to ground instability, operation and maintenance issues, high costs of maintenance, and risks for waterborne diseases. Funding is needed to build secure, efficient, and innovative systems.

12/07/2023

Success story: The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation launched the Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge, and the winning team from UAA came up with a promising system:
Only drinking water (14 gallons) and a small amount of grey water (35 gallons) are distributed, and the grey water recycling system is coupled with non-potable sources. One household can produce 406 gallons! It reduces the water to be delivered.
The dry toilet system reduces the waste to be hauled by households and reduces inconveniences such as odors or risks of infection.
Reducing the frequency of hauling water (by trucks) reduces the costs, and households can afford the system.
The testing phase is ongoing in a residential unit on the University of Alaska’s campus.

We now need funding to develop the system in communities!

To learn more about the project, visit https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/

12/01/2023

Climate change can affect water, sanitation, and hygiene systems, and the Arctic region is even more sensitive to it.
Flooding overloads sewage lagoons and can spread human waste into the environment. It can damage existing systems, or contaminate drinkable water, like coastal erosion or Permafrost thawing.
In the community of Kivalina, Ak for example, storms, and erosion have led this Alaskan coastal community to close the public shower, laundry, and toilet system.
That is why there is a need for innovative portable and movable solutions.



Source:
Hennessy & Bressler (2016). Improving health in the Arctic region through safe and affordable access to household running water and sewer services: An Arctic Council initiative. International Journal of Circumpolar Health.

11/30/2023

Bacteria, viruses, or parasites can grow when we don’t have Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene systems.
E. Coli, Cholera, and Staphylococcus are all complicated names for small organisms that can be dangerous for our health and provoke respiratory, gastrointestinal, or skin infections, or severe diarrhea, putting lives at risk. People cannot wash their hands without proper water systems, and it helps the spread of diseases, such as COVID-19. Water and soap at home, proper disposal of human waste, and proper drinking water are basics for good health.
Also, the lack of WASH systems stimulates antibiotic resistance (when we consume a lot of antibiotics, bacteria get used to it, and become resistant)

More info at:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance

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11/28/2023

Can you imagine not having soap and water to wash your hands, toilets, or easy access to drinkable water? People who don’t have those systems can be seriously sick and have respiratory and skin infections, or diarrhea. It can be as severe as death sometimes. It can also lead to gender inequalities because women need hygiene during their periods. Because of that, girls are more likely to miss days at school.

Learn more on https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html

11/27/2023

Test your knowledge about WASH systems!

Do you know much about toilets? Test your knowledge, and find fun information about it!

11/26/2023

The United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goal #6 and Healthy Alaskan 2030 Objective #2 focus on increasing access to water, hygiene, and sanitation systems.
Access to water, sanitation, and hygiene is a human right. Water is essential to health but also to poverty reduction, food security, peace and human rights, ecosystems, and education.
What can we do? Civil society organizations should work to keep governments accountable, invest in water research and development, and promote the inclusion of women, youth, and indigenous communities in water resources governance.
on hygiene issues.

To find out more about Goal #6 and the other Sustainable Development Goals, visit:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

To learn more about Healthy Alaskan 2030, visit https://www.healthyalaskans.org/environmental-health/

11/25/2023

Waters, soils, plants, Sealife, or wildlife can be contaminated when human waste (p**p and p*e) is released into nature without treatment. Indigenous communities rely on those sources of food and water and are most exposed to being affected. Recreational activities in infected waters or soils can also lead to health issues. Providing proper water, sanitation, and hygiene systems ensures everybody the right to safety and security.
Also, the lack of WASH systems stimulates antibiotic resistance (when we consume a lot of antibiotics that can go into the environment, bacteria get used to it, and become resistant)

Learn more at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html

**p

11/24/2023

Success Story - The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s PASS system.

In 2021, ANTHC installed its innovative system, the Mini PASS, in 10 communities, through CDC Foundation funding, and private CDC Foundation donors. “The Mini PASS was designed by ANTHC engineers as a variation of the larger PASS unit used in rural homes across the state”.
What is the PASS? A treated water storage tank and a bathroom sink, permit easier and more frequent handwashing, a urine-diverting toilet separates urine from f***s reducing odor and limiting manipulation of mixed-liquid waste, and it is constantly ventilated to the outdoors, which further controls odors and allows solid waste to dry.
The mini PASS is ideal for smaller homes and easier to transport to remote Alaska communities.

Funding is needed to deploy the system in more communities.
To learn more about the program, visit https://www.anthc.org/news/portable-alternative-sanitation-system-connects-in-home-sanitation-systems-where-it-was-impossible-before/