Preparedness

Guest Post: Waste Management – What are you doing?

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This is a survival & preparedness guest post sent in by BG…….

There is well over 7 billion people living on planet Earth and sooner or later they will all have to use the bathroom. In the US, nearly every house or apartment, whether in rich, middle class, or poor areas, is equipped with a bathroom.  However, across the world, that isn’t the case.   According to my research, there are around 1.1 billion people who have no access to a toilet of any kind.  In total, 2.5 billion people defecate outside because they can’t get to an indoor toilet (assume we aren’t talking about hikers here….)

On the surface this might seem like a trivial (and personal) matter that most people do not care to talk about. However, if human waste is not properly managed it will become a problem that has the ability to cause millions to become sick or even die. The problem of eliminating human waste is no small issue and though it is an issue that is often pushed out of the spot light; the truth is that this part of the human condition must be addressed in order to keep people free from disease. I guess, poop isn’t a topic that is formally discussed because of the implication of crudeness and disgust. The main context in which we talk about poop is humor but in an emergency situation, it won’t be a laughing matter.

Many homes in third world countries do not have proper sanitation infrastructure or systems in place to handle the millions of tons of waste material that is released by people on a daily basis. A lot of individuals in third world countries use the bathroom are secluded places outside of their home or their particular settlement, town or village. Believe it or not millions of people who are living in third world countries relieve their waste material in this manner. In many cases they do not even bury or cover up the excrement after they relieve themselves.

Many people automatically assume that most cities have adequate infrastructure to deal with sewage problems but the truth is that many metropolitan areas have old and over stressed sewer systems that are barely able to perform. In some urban communities throughout the world, government and city authorities are not able to provide adequate plumbing systems for many people. As a result, people use the bathroom out on the streets or in designated public areas. The bottom line is that the sewage probelm has to be effectively managed. By the year 2100 there will be close to 10 billion people living on the Earth and if there is not system in place to handle their waste material then millions will suffer.

Based off of those numbers alone, it wouldn’t take much to distrupt the sanitation system.

One of the best ways that cities can improve the sewage system within their area is by correcting the problem on a per family basis. In many regions of the U.S. where flooding is common, sewage systems are often overwhelmed. When an emergency happens or a disaster strikes and many people are left without power, using the toilet could become a nightmare. Municpal septic systems rely on power to keep sewage from becoming a huge problem. Sometimes these systems can fail for as long as a month or more and when they do people can become very ill.

Local government, public waste facilities and private companies offer waste management and removal services to many consumers. Some people use septic tanks to get rid of their sewage. This system involves diverting waste material from a residence to private outside storag tank that lies beneath the ground. A company removes waste material on a periodic basis after it builds up. Some people are supplied port-a-poties by their government and these small portable toilets are another effective method for releiving waste. Port-a-potties are typically used at major outdoor public events. They can also be used at local residences and companies can also be used to remove this type of waste as well.

So, maybe it is time you get a port-a-potty?

Port-a-potties are also a viable solution for controlling waste because they are relatively easy to transport, set-up, use and cleaned. As a matter of fact the waste that these structures hold can be eliminated with the garbage. Many families could have a port-a-potty set up on their property for a relatively low cost. Waste manage is critical for all people and especially for a large family that lives off-grid. As a part of an emergency prepper, people should be willing to consider having some sort of emergency plan in place for eliminating waste material if sewage infrastructure and systems fail.

If you are looking at a similar situation in a grid-down scenario for our house or community what will you be doing?  The wonderful UN has outlined one such design to be the minimal level of sanitation.  It consists of a single pit latrine, usually 2-3 meters deep, is used to collect and store excreta . The pit is protected with a ring of bricks called a ring beam. A simple concrete slab sits on top of the ring beam and serves as the interface where the user squats and defecates with a structure on top.

As the pit fills up, the waste leaks into the soil and carries fecal organisms and pathogens with it. After 1-2 years, the waste decomposes and the amount of pathogens are greatly reduced.  In the end, it requires no water at all and is the simplest of all sanitation systems- most of the assembly is digging a pit.

This post wasn’t intended to solve your specific scenario, but just a reminder that your planning needs to be well rounded.

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19 Comments

  1. John Hancock says:

    Most people never take this part of the infrastructure into consideration, if you plan on bugging in, and live on the grid then I fear most of you will be in for a very rude awakening… every city or town uses sump-stations to move sewage waste throughout the city and to their water treatment facilities. Think of it like this all of your drain pipes work with gravity, for example building code requires for every 1 Linear foot of 3” pipe you most have a slope or drop of 1/8 inch per foot, the smaller the pipe the larger the pitch angle, 2” requires 1/4” drop, but pipes can’t simply go deeper and deeper, there is literally tens of thousands of miles of drain lines in a city, a major city has hundreds of thousands, so to eliminate this drop you have what’s called sump stations, works just like the name implies it does, some of you guys might be familiar with Submersible sump pumps, drop it in a hole, has a float switch on it once water raises past the pump it turns on and empties the hole of water, the sewage sump station works the exact same way, big hole with man hole cover 8 to 16’ deep filled up then is pumped out of pip at top so the slow and steady drop can start over again until it gets so deep that another station is required, this is repeated all over the city sometimes hundreds of times before returning to water treatment plant. This is where grid down takes its toll… after hurricane erma I watched feces use out of top of manhole covers entire ditches are filled 3 feet deep with feces and sewage only two days after the storm and we no longer had power this is a city that is very prepared for hurricanes and storms and has vast amounts of generators that runs the sub pumps but because this areas back up generator had failed these $500,000.00 were quickly surrounded by this, it ran through the streets, the flys, mosquitoes and other bugs were drinking these fluids, all water sources anywhere near this were being contaminated, folks once this gets in your water there is no filtering it, or purification that’s going to eliminate that risk, your entire environment just became a scene right out of the dark ages, rates and bugs will be carrying diseases we know and and maybe a few new ones that we don’t! Long story short most cities will be so contaminated and disease ridden that people will not be able to stay there and keep healthy, and the mass die off of human beings after that water is contaminated will be unfathomable, once those bodies hit the streets with the rodents and bugs, the diseases will multiply, and even if there’s a good infrastructure in place and they are trying to dispose of the bodies they will soon be overwhelmed… My father was a builder, my grandfather had the largest plumbing company in the county, and I’m now a general contractor which for where I am is the highest license in the land, im licensed to build skyscrapers if I choose to do so, the pass rate in the state of Florida for my license is 27%. So believe me when I tell you the cities will fall, the infrastructure is not designed for no power and try as you wish the area will fall, first to roving gangs, but that’s just a teaser for the true horror to come from right beneath your own feet…

    Reply
  2. JohnP says:

    We have a rain barrel for flushing the toilets. I also have a military manual on building and maintaining a latrine and trees to burn to cover the waste product with ash. We can also set up a wash station using a five gallon water cooler, hopefully we will be ok.

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  3. Joyce says:

    As a civil engineering AutoCAD drafter, I’m very familiar with the concept of water and sewage treatment plants. That said, I’m also aware of no power = no sewage treatment. All too soon after a permanent power outage, there will be a major problem. Happily, our situation here is taken care of with a gravity-fed septic system and an old-time leach bed.

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  4. John Hancock says:

    Joyce you have the situation that we all here I think strive to get, I think many who live in the city in this modern day and time just can’t even grasp how reliant upon the grid we truly are, here in Florida when we get a plumbers license we must say a oath to protect and safeguard the public from disease and contaminated drinking water, it’s a very serious business and it’s understood when working for the municipality that if we don’t do our jobs correctly or half ass our work people can get sick or even worse die… when that system fails, people in the cities just have no clue at all what will be unleashed upon them. It’s the dark ages with the Black Plague, rats 🐀 and insects 🕷 🐜 🐞 will kill your ass dead, you could easily die from a paper cut in that environment! All water sources will be contaminated beyond treatment or filtrations capability’s… and as people start to die in MASS the problems will compound on one another… but to this day there’s a HUGE number of people who plan on bugging in, inside these cities and towns… by the time they understand that death ☠️ is LITERALLY stocking them in that horrible most
    Inhospitable environment I fear that most won’t have a chance in hell at that point…

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  5. Timothius says:

    Composting toilets are catching on. Most municipalities don’t allow them but they are catching on. It can be used as fertilizer for you garden. Better than burning that stuff. Yes, I know about burning it.💩😖

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  6. sos toilet says:

    Composting toilets can certainly be a sustainable and eco-friendly solution for managing human waste, particularly in areas where traditional sewage treatment facilities are not available or practical. By converting human waste into nutrient-rich compost, composting toilets can help to reduce the environmental impact of waste disposal and provide a valuable source of fertilizer for gardens and other crops.

    However, as you mentioned, many municipalities do not currently allow the use of composting toilets, and there are often regulatory hurdles to overcome in order to install and operate these systems legally. In addition, composting toilets may not be a practical or desirable option for all households or businesses, particularly those in urban areas or those with limited outdoor space.

    That being said, the growing popularity of composting toilets and other sustainable waste management solutions is a positive trend that reflects a growing awareness of the need to reduce our impact on the environment and find more sustainable ways of living. As technology and regulations continue to evolve, it’s likely that we’ll see more widespread adoption of composting toilets and other innovative waste management solutions in the years to come.

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  7. JohnP says:

    I am looking at composting toilets as I live in a mobile home and the drain pipes for the toilets are easily accessible. I’m thinking about a portable latrine set over the clean out cover on my septic tank as an alternative, any comments on this would be appreciated.

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    1. JR says:

      I’ll tell you JohnP I know nothing about septics and it’s something I need to learn more about. Composting toilets I’ve heard good things, but, also I am not well versed. There is a frequent reader John Hancock that may be able to provide some info. Not sure.

      Reply
  8. JohnP says:

    John, thanks for that info. Most times I’m not all that happy living in a mobile home but the ease of converting to a composting toilet is a plus.

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  9. John Hancock says:

    Hello JohnP,
    JR asked if I have knowledge about composting toilets and unfortunately I’m not familiar with them at all, I’ve seen some information on them as they are becoming more trendy but my years of experience on the farm didn’t cover that. I grew up drawing water from well, heating it on the wood cooking stove and using an outhouse. We dug 4’ x 4’ wide, 6’ deep holes and drug the out building over it, it lasted the a family of four over a year, to a year in half. Honestly as a child I thought shitting inside your house was gross and unclean 😂, different cultures and perspectives at work, kinda like European countries that literally do there business in a hole, then wash themselves off with water afterwards, they make fun of Americans for what they call smearing it on ourselves with paper…. Or did you know that hemorrhoids, are a uniquely American or north are America related illnesses, the reason why, we sit on toilets, toilets cause hemorrhoids, once again it’s perspective of the culture around us that drives our thinking. As many here talk about composting, and don’t get me wrong I think is a solid ideal, and it will serve many well, I can’t help but to fear the essence of my original message is being lost, by a few people using composting isn’t going to change anything as far as the dangers I’ve outlined above, the only thing that protects anyone from that is distance, and by distance I mean large distances, the farther the better, large cities will contaminate water in lakes, ponds, and rivers for hundreds of miles from them, this contamination will take a very long time to clean up from hundreds of millions of people, and even the 60 million in Canada with 90% of their population living on our northern border will be contaminating our water supplies, we’re talking about the possibility of total contaminated of all of our water supplies, yes there Will be lakes, springs, ponds that are not affected, but I believe that the majority of the United States water supplies will be polluted beyond our ability to treat it safely. The danger is not with what we can do to mitigate ourselves but the dangers of all the other people who just don’t have a clue as to where their waste actually goes, I’ve met people here after the last hurricane who said shit was literally running out of every drain in their hose… is your house at low elevation? We have even talked about the sewer gases and the plethora of dangers that will arise from that after water stops have gone… then there’s the rats and insects who will use the highways built right into your home after that… our infrastructure is so vast and the population on this planet is so large now that failure is utterly a time bomb in itself, it’s a huge danger that to few are taking the time and giving the consideration to even begin to understand the true danger it opposes to us all… the power grid failure is simply the cause to the actual reason 90% of the population will die in the first two years, the killer is the contaminated water supply. FEMA has this information on their web sight for all who wishes to learn more and be better prepared, simply go there and search grid failure. If you are in any area you pay for water and sewage you are intact in danger from day 1 grid down, understanding the vastness of how bad it will be is the first step towards true preparedness. I live in a very populated city myself, I’m not in a position to move to the country yet, but it is my plan, and if I’m not there yet I will be bugging out! The cities and most all towns will be death waiting to happen.

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  10. JohnP says:

    JohnH, thanks for the info. I used outhouses, latrines, pots, buyi was not aware of the hemroid problem. I’m in NE Florida at about 110 feet of elevation but the area has underground swamps in the area. I saw first hand the problems with no water and sewerage contamination during Hurricane Andrew, spent two weeks in the Miami Dade area with the Army Reserves. My plan is to build an outhouse over the septic tank cleanout and use saved rain water or well water to flush it. I think I’m going to have to come up with some kind of cover though.

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  11. John Hancock says:

    Hello again JohnP,
    I’m in southwest Florida myself, very tropical so rain water is a dam good resource if you suspect contamination from your local sources of drinking water. Using rain water to flush you can simply use your existing toilet in your home now as is, it’s a great benefit to being on septic and not tied to the grid, remember to save all your Grey water for flushing and that will save your large amount if your fresh rain water catchment system. Grey water can be from washing dishes, bath water, right down to mop water, it doesn’t have to be perfectly clean to flush a toilet, use pond water, he’ll dig a hole and use swamp water if you need, waste water will be very useful for this. I’d suggest you use clean water and research handheld bidets or store lots of rags and powdered pool shock unsent, many people don’t know but bleach goes bad in liquid form lasting only three to six months, but pool shock is basically the purest form of chlorine available on the civilian market, anything stronger is highly restricted. There is also ways of making your own chlorine, but that’s a little more expensive and advanced preparation that many don’t have, I’m let’s just say I’m a little further down the rabbit hole than most. I tend to be very thorough, or am way more paranoid, some days I’m not sure which is more true lol. But I do know Florida has some major resources when it comes to water, one the entire state sits on a huge aquifer, another is it’s very tropical and rains a lot! Most places water can be found in as little as three feet in south Florida, we always have desalination of course, but Florida has a lot of streams, rivers, ponds, and waterways as well. There’s a lot of wild hogs, alligators, and even pythons to eat if we do fish out the waters. There are hundreds of empty islands not even 60 miles to my south, Everglades swamps cover a great deal of southwest Florida if you have the will there are ways to survive here and avoid what will be the greatest threat to any of us, which is other people of course. That being said it sounds like your in a much less populated place than me. I’m in Fort Myers, senses, said we had 247,000 people move here last year and they say 1,100 people are moving to fort myers everyday now… that’s a lot of people that will compete for very few resources once SHTF. So I don’t plan on staying…

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  12. JohnP says:

    JohnH, again thank you. For years I’ve had a 55 gallon blue barrel I collect rainwater in that I put a hose bib on and use it to flush the toilet when we have a power failure, tapping the grey water would easy enough, but the sinks would be a lot harder. The well now has a solar back up power supply and it’s also wired for a generator. I’m working on an old 5 k military generator for this with a 30 gallon gas supply. My 11 k house generator is dual fuel with 4 100 pound lpg tanks.

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  13. JohnP says:

    JohnH, I live in Middleburg, just outside Jacksonville and this place is also growing fast, luckily we are surrounded by state forest, I’m not sure how deep I would have to go to fig a well. I bought 10 one pound bottles of pool shock and I’m looking at gutters for rain collection.

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  14. John Hancock says:

    Hello JohnP,
    Sounds like a dam fine system you’re working on there, great location as well, it offers many ways out if you do have to go, lots of secluded lands around you as well! Rain catchment is a fantastic prep it will serve you well, pool shock will last a very long time as well, as I’m sure you already know a little will go a long way. Preppers are kind of funny in how we all have what I like to call “picture” built in our heads that we basically set our whole life to task to prepare for, and no two “pictures” are painted in our minds the exact same way, their all different, each and everyone of us have set goals based on our own perception of what we imagine will possible happen and prioritize things based upon that certain understanding that can be so different as our own finger prints, that and we are all men of action, leaders who go against the flow of the mainstream indoctrination of the sheeple in masses, although there are in fact great numbers of us there isn’t large groups forming together because we focus on the details of that “picture” so much it is hard for us to consider another persons “picture” thus we have the lone prepper syndrome that plagues most our fellow preppers, in layman’s terms, to many chiefs and not enough Indians so to speak. Let’s face it all of us here and throughout our preeping community didn’t just come upon a whim and start preparing, no this came upon well at least for me and very many others, I felt more like I was compelled to start getting ready, there was something deep down in my mind telling me to get ready, that something bad was coming for us all, that feeling 13 years later is still with me but telling me there is a lot less time now though… living with this compelling feeling and trying to balance it with what I’ve planned for my future life has been a battlefield in my mind for years now and what is usually always sacrificed in this great battle of willpower and “something else” is today… I sacrifice today for two different possibly tomorrow’s now and have for a very long time now it seems. We can only service by working together in a group but after considering and trying to form a group of preppers for years I came to the conclusion that it was more work than I had time to do, so I realized actually I was always from day one going to try and save my family and even friends if I could, most if not all of the prepping community had a saying at that time, dont come to my house I’ll shoot you, could you imagine pointing a shotgun at your brother? Father? Best friend? Yeah I called bullshit on that from day one and realized you have to stock more food for those people you want to save, 2 cups of uncooked rice is 1400 calories, for roughly 2 bucks, it’s about the same with beans but beans offer more nutrition, but also cost about 30 cents more per pound, resterant supply house will sell in bulk for your best rates, so for as little as 60 a month you can save one person, can’t afford that, grow a garden, can or sell vegetables barter in trade, rice and beans store in Mylar with oxygen absorbers will last 20 years if stored in cool dry environment. 1,500.00 could feed two for ten to 12 months, that’s the cost of a good riffle.does anyone want to take 5,000.00 and spend it on food your going to put away forever? Hell no, it sucks! But guess what that feeds ten people for 6 to eight months and those people will help you stay alive! You can’t guard your area, grow a garden, forage for food, hunt, set traps, pull weeds, compost, see to animals, fish, fight off invaders, split firewood in the winter, clean game, harvest a garden, plant a garden, water a garden, can food, pull weeds, make fertilizer, cook food, build smoke house, dig cellar, barter with neighbors, search for supplies, hand wash laundry, make soap all by yourself can you? In fact with ten people your already short handed! Lone survival is possible if you want to go crazy in a box buried in the ground, countless studies on that all say it’s a very bad ideal leaves us with the cold hard facts, gangs will arise fast and large because no one loses, only have a opportunity to game a free meal by joining whereas preppers have everything to lose by showing the wrong person there stuff just one time, save your family and friends weather their preppers now or not, and you will have people you can completely trust and already know to have your back when it truly counts, couple this with saving refugees who can bring something you really need to the table, think medic, local farmer? Military combat experience and then maybe we will have a chance, but my picture I have is prepping for EMP grid down so I’ll have manual pumps ready to go for when the motors and batteries are fried.. but hey, that’s my picture. I was once asked by a prepper on a pod cast, what is it are you preparing for, what is it you see be the most dangerous situation we will have to face, I looked at him and said two words, because no matter how you “paint” your “picture” cause and affect means all road lead to the most dangerous thing to is… ourselves, other people. My two words were CIVIL UNREST, lawlessness in the streets where the strong will feed upon the week, they will go do to door taking what that want, a prepper can it stop a gang of 50, 100, 400 or more on any terms. Let’s think about it like this, in this glorious age we live in now we have gangs like MS-13 who do horrific things to people and then there family’s. That’s with law and order, tens of thousands of police across the country here trying to stop those people, now imagine a world with no police, no law, no one at all stepping up to stop those animals. I personally think that our own normalcy bias won’t even let normal people like us even imagine as to how bad it be… it won’t stop at taking your stuff, soon you yourself will be the prize, you can be used as a slave, sex slave, food, torture, many sickos out there and there will be many more made from the events…

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  15. JohnP says:

    JohnH, a lot of truths there.if been told there is MS13 in Jax. The road is 1 1/2+ plus mile sugar sand road with only one enter exit way, they may get in, getting out will be harder. I don’t doubt any scenario with e-learning in the oval office so I try to make general plans the will fit a number of situations, my biggest drawback can be my wife of 56+ years. I have a few neighbors who at least think something will happen and are making some plans, but there is 30 homes here and some have their heads buried, I will help if I can, but not the expense of my family. My condition is going on 79 with a bad back, the wife is going on 75 with a bad back and our son is 40 with multiple conditions the makes him bed ridden, so all this has to be figures in my planning. As far as groups, no, belonged to one that did train on some useab!e things, they never got beyond six as the turnover rate was bad. At night they would do a night March with no light( moon and stars occasionally) through snake heaven,sorry, snake bites are expensive. If you want my email let me know and have JR send it to you.

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  16. John Hancock says:

    JohnP, well it sounds like your in a decent spot, I think your neighbors will come together for a defensive benefit but that will also be a lot of mouths to feed should you decide to join forces, maybe setting back two fifty five gallon drums and slowly filling them with rice and beans maybe a way to prepare for that, your wisdom and preps will make you invaluable to your neighbors, the food could be thought of as payment for them to run security, farm, or any other set task you might find for them. I’d like to have your email address, I’ve already met up and befriended a couple of people on here, John Rourke and I are very close friends now after all these years, either him or I makes the trip to see each other at least once a year for a week or two, Mr. Gault had me over to his place one year for thanksgiving and it was fantastic, he is a great guy with a very nice family who welcomed me in like a long lost friend! He has a great property off the beaten path out in the country in near a small town in Georgia, they have I think 40 acres there, very beautiful property. Maybe one day I can stop and meet you guys on my comings and goings out of the state I try to take at least a couple times a year?
    I’d like to get my homestead in western North Carolina myself, I was raised up in south eastern Kentucky Harlan county USA, or bloody Harlan after the two movies made about the place, most do not believe the history I tell them about of that place that the government made sure was not in the history books either, but hey I don’t mind, I’m not trying to impress anyone anyhow, and am as honest as the day is long so it really doesn’t bother me what they believe no how. Well I’m rambling on here, but wanted to say it was real nice talking with you and I do look forward hopefully meeting you guys some day, you ever come to fort Myers, my door is always open to you, that’s it for now, look forward to hearing about your next adventure in preparation, take care.

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  17. JohnP says:

    JohnH, sounds good. I have never met John, but we conversed many times over many years. I’m going to get some rice this week from the LDS church, if they have and start storing a larger quantity. Had four feet cross the yard fifty feet from the house this morning, deer come into my yard every couple of weeks. I let JR to forward my email to you.

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