LECTURE NOTES Solid and Liquid Waste Management For Health Extension Workers Esayas Alemayehu Jimma University In collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter Center, the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education November 2004 Funded under USAID Cooperative Agreement No. 663-A-00-00-0358-00. Produced in collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter Center, the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education. Important Guidelines for Printing and Photocopying Limited permission is granted free of charge to print or photocopy all pages of this publication for educational, not-for-profit use by health care workers, students or faculty. All copies must retain all author credits and copyright notices included in the original document. Under no circumstances is it permissible to sell or distribute on a commercial basis, or to claim authorship of, copies of material reproduced from this publication. ©2004 by Esayas Alemayehu All rights reserved. Except as expressly provided above, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the author or authors. This material is intended for educational use only by practicing health care workers or students and faculty in a health care field. Acknowledgments The development of this lecture note for training Health Extension workers is an arduous assignment for Ato Esayas Alemayehu at Jimma University. Essentially, it required the consolidation and merging of existing in depth training materials, examination of Health Extension Package manuals and the Curriculum. Recognizing the importance of and the need for the preparation of the lecture note for the Training of Health Extension workers THE CARTER CENTER (TCC) ETHIOPIA PUBLIC HEALTH TRAINING INITIATIVE (EPHTI) facilitated the task for Jimma University to write the lecture note in consultation with the Health Extension Coordinating Office of the Federal Ministry of Health. Finally the Federal Ministry of Health would like to express special words of gratitude for those who contributed and endeavored to the development of this lecture note and to TCC/USAID for the technical and financial support. i Table of Contents Acknowledgement i Table of contents ii List of figures iv Definitions of technical terms used in solid and liquid waste management 1 Background Information 4 UNIT ONE: Solid Waste Management Learning Objectives 5 1.1 Introduction 5 1.2 Public health importance of solid waste management 6 1.3 Classification of solid waste 6 1.4 Functional elements of solid waste management 7 1.5 Main sources of solid waste generation 9 1.6 Waste handling and separation, storage and processing at the sources 10 1.7 Solid waste collection 10 1.8 Recycling and reuse 12 1.9 Common solid waste disposal methods 13 1.9.1. Composting 14 1.9.2. Controlled tipping/Burying 18 1.9.3. Incineration 20 1.9.4. Ploughing in fields 24 1.9.5. Other disposal methods 25 ii UNIT TWO: Liquid Waste Management Learning Objectives 27 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Public health importance of waste water/sewage 27 2.3. Classification of liquid waste/sewage 28 2.4. Waste water/sewage composition 29 2.5. Points to be conceder before selecting one particular sewage disposal techniques 31 2.6. Liquid waste disposal methods at the rural communities/household level 31 2.7. Sewage/wastewater treatment 37 UNIT THREE: Contaminated Waste Management Learning Objectives 40 3.1. Introduction 40 3.2. Purpose of contaminated waste management 42 3.3. Collection and disposal of contaminated waste 43 3.4. How to dispose solid contaminated wastes 47 3.5. How to dispose liquid contaminated wastes 48 3.6. How to dispose contaminated sharps 49 Review Questions 51 References 52 iii List of Figures Figure 1: Interrelation ship of functional elements comprising a solid waste management system 9 Figure 2: Collection using Donkey drawn cart 11 Figure 3: Pilling the first layer of organic waste matter 16 Figure 4: Place vertical poles in the pile 16 Figure 5: Final covering and taking out the poles from the pile 17 Figure 6: Burying solid waste in a pit 20 Figure 7: Design for a simple oil drum incinerator 23 Figure 8: Single-chamber incinerator 24 Figure 9: Leaching type of cesspool 34 Figure 10: Watertight cesspool 36 Figure 11: Schematic of septic tank 37 Figure 12: Schematic overview of a conventional waste water treatment system 39 Figure 13: Flow diagram-Collection and disposal of contaminated waste 46 iv Solid and Liquid Waste Management Definitions of technical terms used in solid and liquid waste management Ashes: residue from fires used for cooking and heating Biodegradable: capable of being breakdown by biological process. Biodegradation: metabolic process by which high energy organics are converted to low energy, CO2, and H2O Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): amount of oxygen, used by microorganisms in the biodegradation process. Bulky Refuse: materials that are non-combustible including metals cans furniture dirt glass. etc. Decomposition: reduction of net energy level and change in chemical composition of organic matter because of actions of aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms. Dumping: The final disposal of all refuses by uncontrolled, indiscriminate deposition on sand areas, in pits or quarries, rivers, etc. Effluent: out flowing liquid and broken by the action of anaerobic bacteria. Garbage: Organic and generally biodegradable wastes from the preparation and processing of foods in homes, 1 Solid and Liquid Waste Management restaurants, food processing and packaging plants abattoirs and other similar establishments. Garden trash: Grass clippings, flowers, shrubbery and tree trimmings, leaves, and other tree droppings. Influent: inflowing liquid Municipal wastes: normal sized wastes from street cleaning and litter collections from playgrounds, schools, hospitals, parks, dead animals and public slaughtering house. Recyclable (salvageable): Materials or items which can economically sorted out and removed from refuse for sale, refuse by private enterprise. Residues: Solid material which is left (discharged) at the end of burning (incineration) Rubbish: combustible wastes including paper, card board boxes, barrels, wood, tree branches yard trimmings, furniture originating from homes institutions hotels, markets, Stores, etc. Sewage disposal: the act of disposing sewage by any means. Sewage treatment: covers any process in which sewage is subjected in order to remove or alter its objectionable constituent to make it less dangerous or offensive. Sewer: a pipe containing sewage or wastewater 2 Solid and Liquid Waste Management Sewerage: a system of sewer pipes for collecting sewage or wastewater into the treatment and disposal. Solid wastes: is all the wastes arising from human and animal activities that are normally solid and that are discarded as useless or unwanted. Street Refuse: street-sweeping dirt. Sullage: domestic dirty water not combined with excreta 3 Solid and Liquid Waste Management Background Information Domestic Waste is waste, which is either solid or liquid generated in residential areas, Commercial settings and institutions. Waste in general terms is defined as an unwanted as it is obviously undesirable. It is nevertheless an inevitable and inherent product of social, economic and cultural life. The indiscriminate disposal of waste, both liquid and solid, adversely affects the immediate human environment by degrading the natural phenomena hence, exerting health risk to exposed population. Health risks may be carried through different vehicles including flies, dogs, rodent and others that scavenge on the waste. In this lecture note, the most practical ways of managing solid and liquid waste at household and community levels are discussed in detail. However, considerable emphasis is given to solid waste management systems. The various technologies for proper disposal of solid wastes are listed. This lecture note is basically aimed at health extension students and community promoters to provide a ready-made reference, but other primary health workers can also use it. The lecture note has three main chapters namely, solid waste management, liquid waste management and contaminated waste management. 4 Solid and Liquid Waste Management UNIT ONE Solid Waste Management Learning Objectives After completing this unit the trainee will be able to: • Define solid Waste Management. • Describe public health importance of Solid Waste. • Describe the major sources and types of Solid Waste • Demonstrate common Solid Waste disposal methods. 1.1 Introduction Solid waste management: A systematic administration of activities that provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment and disposal of solid waste. 1.2 Public Health importance of solid waste ¾ It can be best media for the growth of microorganisms ¾ Attraction of arthropods such as common housefly, mosquito, etc ¾ Attraction of rodents and other animals e.g. rats mice dogs cats 5 Solid and Liquid Waste Management ¾ Open dump can contaminate water sources ¾ Can contaminate food supply and cause food borne disease ¾ Hospital and pathological wastes are potential disease carrying waste products ¾ Radioactive wastes are highly dangerous ¾ It can create fire accident ¾ Slum areas ¾ It can create nuisance: