Guidelines on community toilets

I Guidelines on 31408 Toilcetses Zn 0~~~~~~~~ ': W t olol ets 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4 11 Ig i o JSw -&<S .ti d lft~~~~~~~~V Re gional Water and Sanitation Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment Gr DUp - South Asia, UNDP-World Bank < D Government of India i] We ter & Sanitation Program ii ~June 1995  '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r-# f4w9m&1 Yleqq,, rq,.... GOVT. OF INDIA MINISTRY OF URBAN AFFAIRS AND EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT Dr. J.P. Singh Phone: 3019377 SECRETARY -r#f fk-.iiooii, -iTP 199 Dated New Delhi- I1001 1, the 199 28th April, 1995 F O R E W O R D Community Toilets play an important role in meeting the sanitation needs of densely populated low income settlements in the urban areas. In ': India Community Toilets have, in the past, been provided by the Municipalities and Corporations as well as by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The success of these efforts, judged on the basis of sustained and proper use has been a mixed one for various reasons. At present there has been no comprehensive guidelines on the issues to be addressed at the preparation stage in order to enhance the chances of proper and sustained use of these facilities. I hope that the guidelines prepared by the Regional Water and Sanitation Group-South Asia (RWSG-SA) of the UNDP/World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme will go a long way in meeting this need. I also hope that the Municipal Authorities will find the Guidelines useful. I would however, urge upon them to let RWSG-SA have their suggestions and comments so that the Guidelines can be further revised based on the feed-back from the field. J. P. ' ingh Secretary to G vt. of India  47 t . i; .. Contents CHAPTER I Introduction .1 CHAPTER II Project Preparation. 3 CHAPTER III Design and Construction 6 II . ..................CHAPTER IV Operation and Maintenance . 12 CHAPTER V Institutional and Financial Arrangem nts .16 Annexes ....... ........................................ 23 Drawings ........................................ . 61 1-  Chapter I Introduction Background 'Pay & Use' and 'No-Pay & Use'. A study of the literature and a rapid survey2 and field 1. At the end of the International Drinking investigationsrevealthatmanycommunitytoilets Water and Sanitation Decade (1981-90), remain under such insanitary conditions that the sanitation coverage in India remained users do not like to enter them; they prefer open significantly low; in urban areas coverage in air defecation. Major deficiencies identified by March 1992 was only 48 percent'. In many parts the survey are: (i) lack of cleanliness and poor of the country, particularly in the semi-urban up-keep (noticeable more in the case of 'No-Pay areas, the sanitation conditions are generally & Use' toilets), (ii) insufficient water supply and poor and in some cases appalling. This reflects lighting, (iii) inappropriate location, (iv) poor the inadequate number of household toilets construction standards, (v) insecurity (specially either due to lack of space for construction or the for female users), and (vi) inadequate funds for inability of households to bear the capital costs operation and maintenance. Many of these or both. To a large extent, community toilets are deficiencies can be effectively addressed by an effective alternative for improving sanitation better planning, design, construction, operation coverage among the densely populated low and maintenance. income communities in urban and semi-urban areas. Besides meeting the requirements of local Need for the Guidelines residents, a community toilet also has the 3. At present there are no comprehensive advantage of being able to serve the floating guidelines on community toilets that population in public places such as markets, bus provide information to the implementing agencies. stands, railway stations, hospitals, places of on issues related to aggregation of user worship etc. preferences, demand responsive designs, construction, operation and maintenance. With 2. With a view to meeting the sanitation needs the current emphasis by the Government of of the low-income communities and the floating India and the state governments on the provision population, several thousand community toilets of community toilets to improve environmental have been constructed and operated by the sanitation, there is an urgent need for Municipalities and non-governmental comprehensive guidelines to help the organizations (NGOs) in various cities and implementing agencies in the proper planning towns in India. These toilets are of two types; and management of these toilets. Planning Commission (Govt. of India), Eighth Five Year Plan. 2 For the preparation of these guidelines on design, construction, operation and maintenance of community toilets, rapid field investigations were carried out in four cities in India viz. Bombay, Calcutta, Lucknow, and Madras. Two community toilets, operated on a 'Pay & Use' system and one, operated on a 'No-Pay & Use' basis, were selected from each city for the survey except in the case of Calcutta where three were selected from the first calrgory and one from the second. .,, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1  *~~~~ T 4. The guidelines given here are based on the project prep ration, community preference experience gained in India from the operation assessment an instruments for the field survey. and maintenance of more than 2000 'Pay & Use' Chapter III dis usses the design criteria, provides and several thousand'No-Pay & Use'community some typical designs and also a few tips for toilets in urban and semi-urban areas. The construction. Chapter IV is devoted to the guidelines also draw on the findings of the rapid operation an1 maintenance aspects of the survey and field investigations already community oilets such as operation and mentioned. maintenance schedules, operation and maintenance staff and their responsibilities, Target Groups storage requ rements, creation of awareness 5. The target groups for these guidelines among users and monitoring by local bodies. include: municipal administrators and engineers, Chapter V overs institutional and financial state road transport authorities, railways, arrangement for community toilets. This implementing agencies and NGOs involved in includes a r view of current institutional and construction and/or operation and maintenance financial pra tices, their merits and demerits of community toilets. and suggesti ns for improvements, and training Lay out of the Guidelines of staff. 6. Chapter II describes the methodology of 2  Chapter 11 Project Preparation 1. Project preparation means the toilet and reasons for not constructing documentation of all the relevant technical, household toilets. An assessment should financial, social, institutional, operational and also be made of the number of pavement maintenance aspects of a project in a structured dwellers. A survey format for the general manner. A well structured project document households and pavement dwellers is given reflects the effective demand for services and in Annex 1. enables the concerned agency to successfully in implement the project and ensures its sustained : operation and maintenance. Residents: This includes a field survey covering about 25 percent of the total Project Preparation Steps number of households without toilets in the project area. The households should be 2. Project preparation includes community v . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~selected in such a manner that the sample preference assessment, site selection, site ... . '. .' . .................covers adequately all socio-economic l specific investigations, collection of information on institutional and financial aspects for groups. The aim of the survey will be to construction, operation and maintenance of the collect information on the number of family .< . . . ~~~~~~~~members who are likely to use the I community toilets and finally the preparation of the project document. community toilets including bathing and washing facilities, willingness to pay capital Community Preference Assessment costs partially and O&M costs fully, 3^ The objective of community preferencepreferred location, preferred hours of use, - 3. The objective of comrnunity preference, material used for anal cleaning and social assessment is to reveal the effective demand for beliefs. A format f'or this survey is given in : services from a community toilet. A well defined survey is a pre-requisite for estimating demand. Annex 2. The survey would include assessing the iii) Survey for Assessing the Number of r households without a toilet, estimating the Users of Other Categories : Other number of non-resident users, assessing the categories of users include floating preferences of potential resident and non-resident population, rickshaw/hand cart pullers, taxi users and aggregating their preferences. drivers and other similar groups of people. i) Survey for Assessing Households For assessing the floating population, Without Toilet: The purpose of this discussions should be held with the survey is to assess the number of authorities managing public facilities like households without toilet, number of hospitals, bus terminals and railway stations, .- persons living in these households and trade organizations and places of worship, their economic background, present place as found necessary. An assessment should for defecation, dermand for a community also be made of the number of rickshaw and 3  hand cart pullers, taxi drivers etc., who are Site Specific Investigations likely to use the community toilet. A format 5. These include: collection of site specific for assessing the floating population data on soil (haracteristics, ground water levels and other categories of users is given in during various seasons, flooding/water logging Annex 3. of the site, a ailability of sewer lines for disposal iv) Survey for Assessing the Preferences of of wastewat r, and availability of water supply Users of Other Categories : The purpose and electricity. Wherever necessary, a of interviewing non-resident users is to topographic map for the site needs to be prepared. collect information on their demand for Annex 5 gi es a checklist for collection of site sanitation and their willingness to pay for a specific dat , based on which decisions on the community toilet. About five percent of this type of foun ation for civil structure, wastewater category of users should be interviewed. disposal sy tem and also the need for making A format for such a survey is given in independe t arrangements for water and Annex 4. electricity an be taken. v) Aggregation of User Preferences: The n . I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~nforin-ati Dn on Institutional & Financila user preferences arrived at through the resident surveys should be consolidated in Aspects: order to arrive at the total number of 6. The in titutional and financial aspects should resident users. To this should be added the be discuss d with community leaders, the local number of users of other categories to body, non-, overnmental organizations (NGOs) obtain the total number of users. By and comm nity based organizations (CBOs). extrapolation of data collected during the Institutionr , aspects include: investigations of survey using formats given in Annex 2 and the insti utional options available for Annex 4, an estimate can be made of the constructi n, operation and maintenance of the total number of users for each facility. communi y toilets; and information on experienc , credibility and past performance of ( Site Selection NGOs wi h potential for participation in a 4. Location of an appropriate site is often communi toilet programme. Financial aspects a complex task. The rapid survey, mentioned cover: inv stigation of potential methods for earlier in chapter 1, reveals that people, especially meeting c pital and recurrent3 costs; listing of the women and the aged, are unlikely to use agencies t at can finance the capital costs; and the facility if it is provided beyond half a also the po ssibility of recovering the full operation kilometer distance. Hence the community and maint nance costs of the community toilet toilet should be located close to the dwellings of on a 'Pay & Use' basis. A detailed checklist of its users; if possible within half a kilometer informati n on institutional and financial aspects distance or less. It should also be accessible to is include in Annex 5. the users throughout the year. The convenience 7. Base on the data collected from the of the local community should therefore be the field sur ey, the agency responsible for the main guiding factor in the location of a toilet. p The site should be selected by the poeteotpeaainsol lc community.ehoule selectede by the before t e community, various institutional commuity.The mpleentin agecy sould and finan ilal options along with the advantages provide information to enable the community and dis dantpges aof each, odertto . ~~~~~~~~~ancl dist dvantages of each, In order to to appreciate the advantages and fa l disadvantages of the various options for acilitate ecision making by the community. For siting the toilet. instance, the implications in terms of user charges of operation and maintenance by 3 recurrent costs include: depreciation, loan (capital cost) repayment, in erest on loan and operalion and maintenance costs. 4  community, private sector, an NGO and the local ancd recording data on survey forms. Sample body may be shown to the community to facilitate checks must be carried out by the supervisors their choice. To ensure meaningful community during the survey to ensure that the data is participation, it is essential that the users are reliable and communication gaps between the consulted right from the inception of the project interviewers and the respondents are kept to a 'idea. minimum. Project Preparation Team Project Document 8. The project preparation requires multi- 9. The survey information collected forms the disciplinary skills. The core project team should, basis for preparation of the project document. therefore, comprise a sociologist, a public health The guidelines on design and construction, engineer and field investigators with inputs from operation and maintenance and institutional and a civil engineer and a financial expert. The field financial aspects given in the following chapters investigators should be briefed about the will be of help in the preparation of the project objectives of the survey and trained in the use document. The recommended content list for the of survey instruments, especially in interviewing project document is given in Annex 6. 4 5  Chapter III Design & Construction 1. The design is an important aspect of a vi) Waters pply is not available on a continuous community toilet. A well designed community basis. T ere is no lighting arrangement to toilet reflects the preference of the community facilitat use of the toilet in the night. it serves and enhances its use and sustainability. v While designing a community toilet, factors like tak efruent is usually discharged into the the preference and convenience of the users , . . . , ~~~~~~~~~open dr ins causing obnoxious odor, These durability of construction, ease of operation and dr ns caui obnoxious odor. The maintenance and cost effectiveness should be drains reate health hazards and also are taken into account. breedin grounds for mosquitoes and other taken into account. inscts . l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~nsects., Common Design D.eficiencies viii) Mainte ance is unsatisfactory because of 2. Past experience, the rapid survey and field poor fl oring, improper drainage, lack of investigations mentioned in chapter 1 reveal the caretak r room, store etc. following common design deficiencies in.. .: 3. These eficiencies must be avoided while community toilets: designing a d constructing a community toilet. i) The number of toilet units available falls short of the actual requirements of the Classifica ion by Location community with the result that they are 4. Theloc tion-ofacommunitytoiletinfluences crowded and user experience long waiting the type an range of facilities to be provided. times. These are s follows: ii) Children need small squatting seats. It has i) Resid ntial: The facilities provided in been noticed that this requirement is not a com unity toilet block in a residential met in a large number of cases. Therefore, area a e primarily used by residents of the children defecate outside the toilet or in the area including the pavement dwellers. The open area. users i ormally prefer to have toilet, urinal, bathin and washing facilities in the toilet iii) Separate space for washing clothes is not provided. Therefore, bathrooms are used extens vely since people leave their homes for washing clothes. Consequently the users for wo k in the morning and return late in have to wait a long time for their turn to the evening In the night the urinals are take bath. used ccasionally. iv) Poor ventilation results in a foul smell, The ormally include: which attracts insects. a) In ependent compartments or toilet v) No proper place is provided for people to blocks for men and women with separate wait. entries from a lobby. 6  b) Toilet seat for children in the section residential areas, more people use urinal for women. and bathing facilities. While a community LI. . toilet near a bus terminus or a railway l1 c) Circulating area in each section. station is generally used round the clock, d) Lobby for entry into the toilet block and use is generally restricted to day time and also to seat the caretaker. evening in the case of toilet blocks located e) Separate bathing cubicles for men and near markets, hospitals and religious places. In addition to the facilities mentioned in women. 4(i) above, a non-residential community f) Separate places for washing clothes in toilet may have additional facilities like: the male and female sections. VI a) Roonm for keeping the luggage of users; g) Urinal facility for men (women may use and toilets). b) Special bathrooms with toilet seat, h) Water supply. shower and washbasin. i) Electricity. Items like tooth paste/tooth powder, soap j) Wastewater disposal system. and towel can be made available to users on payment. Items (a) and (b) are normally k) Superstructure.. .. .. provided in community toilets near a railway 1) A room for the caretaker to live in. station or a bus terminus. m) A store for keeping the cleaning Design Parameters C materials and equipment. materials and equipment. 5. Important design parameters of a community ii) Non-residential: The community toilets toilet are: located near railway stations, bus terminals, i) No. of Facilities: The number of.facilities truck stands, beaches, bathing ghats, market S , ~~~~~~~~~~~~~required can be worked out based on the! places, hospitals and religious places come ,, , ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~norms for users per day given in Table 3.1. , under this category. They are used mainly n f by the floating population (rickshaw pullers, ii) Size of the Facilities: The optimum and three wheeler/taxi/truck drivers, pavement minimum sizes of toilet cubicle, bathroom, dwellers, hawkers, petty shop keepers and urinal and washing area are given in travelling public). In comparison to Table 3.2. i Table 3.1 Number of Toilets, Baths, Urinals & Washing Area L Location Toilet Seats Bath Units Urinal Units Clothes washing area Residential areas where toilet One seat One unit One unit per 4-5 m2 per 10 toilet seats. ,I! block is not generally used at night per 50 users per 50 users 200-300 users A minimum of 1.5mxl.2m Non-residential: Railway stations, One seat One unit One unit per 4-5 m2 per 30 toilet seats. bus depots, etc. where use of toilet per 100 users per 70 users 300-500 users A minimum of 1.5xt.2m. block is round the clock Non-residential: Near market place, One seat One unit One unit per 4-5 m2 per 10 toilet seats. hospital, religious place where toilet per 100 users per 50 users 200-300 users A minimum of 1.5x1.2m block is not used at night. Note The numbers of toilet seats, bath, urinal units and wuashing area given in this table are based on the experience and data collected dutring the rapid survey. 7  Table 3.2 Size of Toilet Cubicle, Bathroom Cubicle, Prinal & Washing Area Description (ptimum (mm) Minimum' (mm) Toilet cubicle