Saneamiento

El saneamiento es el medio higiénico de promoción de la salud a través de prevención de contacto humano con las amenazas de los desechos. Las amenazas pueden ser las agentes de enfermedad tanto físico, microbiológico, biológico o químico. Los desechos que causan problemas de salud son feces humano y animal, desechos sólidos, aguas negras, y polución industrial y agrícola. Los medios higiénicos de prevención pueden incluir soluciones de ingeniería (e.g., alcantarillado y tratamiento de aguas negras), tecnologías sencillas (e.g., latrinas, tanques sépticas) o incluso prácticas de higiéne personal (e.g., lavando las manos con jabón).

General

La Organización Mundial de Salud se ha dicho que: Plantilla:Quote

El termino "saneamiento" puede ser aplicado a un aspecto, concepto, ubicación o estrategía específico tales como:

• Saneamiento básico - hace referencia al manejo de excremento humano al nivel hogar. Esta terminología es el indicador utilizado para poder describir el blanco del Objetivo del Desarrollo del Milenio en saneamiento.
• Saneamiento en situ - la recolección y tratamiento de desechos se hace en donde se deposita. Ejemplos son de latrinas, tanques sépticos y tanques Imhoff.
• Saneamiento de comida - se hace referencia a las medidas de higiéne para asegurar la seguridad alimentaria.
• Saneamiento ambiental - el control de factores medioambientales que forman enlaces en la transmisión de enfermedades. Sub-conjuntos de esta categoría son manejo de desechos sólidos, tratamiento de aguas negras, tratamiento de desechos industriales y control de polución y ruido.
• Saneamiento ecológico - un enfoque que intenta emular la naturaleza a través del reciclaje de nutrientes y agua de desechos humanos y animales de una manera segura, higiénicamente.

Wastewater sanitation

Wastewater collection

The standard sanitation technology in urban areas is the collection of wastewater in sewers, its treatment in wastewater treatment plants for reuse or disposal in rivers, lakes or the sea. Sewers are either combined with storm drains or separated from them as sanitary sewers. Combined sewers are usually found in the central, older parts or urban areas. Heavy rainfall and inadequate maintenance can lead to combined sewer overflows or sanitary sewer overflows, i.e. more or less diluted raw sewage being discharged into the environment. Industries often discharge wastewater into municipal sewers, which can complicate wastewater treatment unless industries pre-treat their discharges.<ref>Environmental Biotechnology: Advancement in Water And Wastewater Application, edited by Z. Ujang, IWA Proceedings, Malaysia (2003)</ref>

The high investment cost of conventional wastewater collection systems are difficult to afford for many developing countries. Some countries have therefore promoted alternative wastewater collection systems such as condominial sewerage, which uses smaller diameter pipes at lower depth with different network layouts from conventional sewerage.

Wastewater treatment

Archivo:Wonga wetlands sewage plant.jpg

Sewage treatment plant, Australia.

In developed countries treatment of municipal wastewater is now widespread,<ref>Typical U.S. water treatment standards</ref> but not yet universal (for an overview of technologies see wastewater treatment). In developing countries most wastewater is still discharged untreated into the environment. For example, in Latin America only about 15% of collected sewerage is being treated (see water and sanitation in Latin America)

Reuse of wastewater

The reuse of untreated wastewater in irrigated agriculture is common in developing countries. The reuse of treated wastewater in landscaping, especially on golf courses, irrigated agriculture and for industrial use is becoming increasingly widespread.

In many suburban and rural areas households are not connected to sewers. They discharge their wastewater into septic tanks or other types of on-site sanitation.

Ecological sanitation

Ecological sanitation is sometimes presented as a radical alternative to conventional sanitation systems. Ecological sanitation is based on composting or vermicomposting toilets where an extra separation of urine and feces at the source for sanitization and recycling has been done. It thus eliminates the creation of blackwater and eliminates fecal pathogens. If ecological sanitation is practiced municipal wastewater consists only of greywater, which can be recycled for gardening. However, in most cases greywater continues to be discharged to sewers.

Sanitation and public health

The importance of the isolation of waste lies in an effort to prevent water and sanitation related diseases, which afflict both developed countries as well as developing countries to differing degrees. It is estimated that up to 5 million people die each year from preventable water-borne disease,<ref>Pacific Institute</ref> as a result of inadequate sanitation and hygiene practices. The affects of sanitation have also had a large impact on society. The results of studies published in Griffins Public Sanitation show that better sanitation produces an enhanced feeling of wellbeing.

Global access to improved sanitation

The Joint Monitoring Program for water and sanitation of WHO and UNICEF has defined improved sanitation as

• connection to a public sewer
• connection to a septic system
• pour-flush latrine
• simple pit latrine
• ventilated improved pit latrine <ref>The Joint Monitoring Programme of WHO and UNICEF:definitions</ref>

According to that definition, 62% of the world's population has access to improved sanitation in 2008, up by 8% since 1990.<ref> WHO</ref> Only slightly more than half of them or 31% of the world population lived in houses connected to a sewer. Overall, 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation and thus must resort to open defecation or other unsanitary forms of defecation, such as public latrines or open pit latrines.<ref>Sanitation and drinking water: is the world on track? Circle of Blue, July 31, 2008</ref> This includes 1.2 billion people who have access to no facilities at all.<ref name="who.int">World Health Organization and UNICEF. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation.</ref> This outcome presents substantial public health risks as the waste could contaminate drinking water and cause life threatening forms of diarrhea to infants. Improved sanitation, including hand washing and water purification, could save the lives of 1.5 million children who die from diarrheal diseases each year.<ref name="who.int"/>

In developed countries, where less than 20% of the world population lives, 99% of the population has access to improved sanitation and 81% were connected to sewers.

Solid waste disposal

Archivo:Israel hiriya.jpg

Hiriya Landfill, Israel.

Disposal of solid waste is most commonly conducted in landfills, but incineration, recycling, composting and conversion to biofuels are also avenues. In the case of landfills, advanced countries typically have rigid protocols for daily cover with topsoil, where underdeveloped countries customarily rely upon less stringent protocols.<ref>George Tchobanoglous and Frank Kreith Handbook of Solid Waste Management, McGraw Hill (2002)</ref> The importance of daily cover lies in the reduction of vector contact and spreading of pathogens. Daily cover also minimises odor emissions and reduces windblown litter. Likewise, developed countries typically have requirements for perimeter sealing of the landfill with clay-type soils to minimize migration of leachate that could contaminate groundwater (and hence jeopardize some drinking water supplies).

For incineration options, the release of air pollutants, including certain toxic components is an attendant adverse outcome. Recycling and biofuel conversion are the sustainable options that generally have superior life cycle costs, particularly when total ecological consequences are considered.<ref>William D. Robinson, The Solid Waste Handbook: A Practical Guide, John Wiley and sons (1986)</ref> Composting value will ultimately be limited by the market demand for compost product.

Sanitation in the developing world

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include a target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015. In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 'The International Year of Sanitation', in recognition of the slow progress being made towards the MDGs sanitation target.<ref name="Kurian and McCarney">Plantilla:Cite web</ref> The year aims to develop awareness and action to meet the target. Particular concerns are:

• Removing the stigma around sanitation, so that the importance of sanitation can be more easily and publicly discussed.
• Highlighting the poverty reduction, health and other benefits that flow from better hygiene, household sanitation arrangements and wastewater treatment.

Research from the Overseas Development Institute suggests that sanitation and hygiene promotion needs to be better 'mainstreamed' in development, if the MDG on sanitation is to be met. At present, promotion of sanitation and hygiene is mainly carried out through water institutions. The research argues that there are, in fact, many institutions that should carry out activities to develop better sanitation and hygiene in developing countries. For example, educational institutions can teach on hygiene, and health institutions can dedicate resources to preventative works (to avoid, for example, outbreaks of cholera).<ref name="odisanitation">Plantilla:Cite web</ref>

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) coordinated research programme on Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a radically different approach to rural sanitation in developing countries and has shown promising successes where traditional rural sanitation programmes have failed. CLTS is an unsubsidized approach to rural sanitation that facilitates communities to recognize the problem of open defecation and take collective action to clean up and become ‘open defecation free’. It uses community-led methods such as participatory mapping and analysing pathways between feces and mouth as a means of galvanizing communities into action. An IDS 'In Focus' Policy Brief suggests that in many countries the Millennium development goal for sanitation is off track and asks how CLTS can be adopted and spread on a large scale in the many countries and regions where open defecation still prevails.<ref>'Beyond Subsidies - Triggering a Revolution in Rural Sanitation' Institute of Development Studies (IDS) In Focus Policy Brief 10 July 2009.</ref>

Sanitation in the food industry

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Modern restaurant food preparation area.

Sanitation within the food industry means the adequate treatment of food-contact surfaces by a process that is effective in destroying vegetative cells of microorganisms of public health significance, and in substantially reducing numbers of other undesirable microorganisms, but without adversely affecting the food or its safety for the consumer (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Code of Federal Regulations, 21CFR110, USA). Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures are mandatory for food industries in US, which are regulated by 9 CFR part 416 in conjunction with 21 CFR part 178.1010. Similarly, in Japan, food hygiene has to be achieved through compliance with food sanitation law.<ref name=fslj>Plantilla:Cite web</ref>

Additionally, in the food and biopharmaceutical industries, the term sanitary equipment means equipment that is fully cleanable using clean-in-place (CIP) and sterilization-in-place (SIP) procedures: that is fully drainable from cleaning solutions and other liquids. The design should have a minimum amount of deadleg <ref>Treatment of deadleg plumbing areas</ref> or areas where the turbulence during cleaning is insufficient to remove product deposits. In general, to improve cleanability, this equipment is made from Stainless Steel 316L, (an alloy containing small amounts of molybdenum). The surface is usually electropolished to an effective surface roughness of less than 0.5 micrometre to reduce the possibility of bacterial adhesion.

See also

• Disinfectant
• International sanitary conferences
• Lifewater International
• Micro credit for water supply and sanitation
• National Sanitation Foundation
• Sewage collection and disposal
• Trap (plumbing)
• Water and sanitation program
• Water crisis
• Water pollution
• Water supply
• Water supply and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa
• World Plumbing Council
• World Toilet Organization

References

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External links

• Urban Wastewater Treatment in France, MEEDDM
• IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the Hague, the Netherlands
• [1]
• Sanitation, Hygiene and Wastewater Resource Guide (World Bank)
• Tilley et al.: Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council / Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), 2008
• Central Asia Health Review (CAHR). Poor Sanitation Causes Death among Children under Five in Afghanistan
• The 2006 UNDP Human Development Report: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis - Chapter 3: The vast deficit in sanitation accessed on August 22, 2007
• Water Supply and Sanitation, World Bank accessed on August 22, 2007
• Early urban sanitation in ancient India
• Sanitation coverage vs. population growth: an encouraging trend
• Daily cover in landfills
• Hy2U innovative handwashing device and campaign
• Your Health in Your Hands UNICEF Documentary narrated by Khaled Abol Naga
• Poo Productions, music and film organization raising awareness about sanitation issues
• Akvo.org - The open source for water and sanitation, including the Akvopedia, water and sanitation wiki
• Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)
• India's National Level portal on Sanitation
• Google - public data "Improved sanitation facilities, urban (% of urban population with access)"