Sanitation

Oxfam’s work in sanitation encompasses the entire sanitation chain, starting with excreta disposal by building toilets and through emptying, transport, and the end treatment of faecal sludge, wastewater, and solid waste. We work to improve the quality of services at each step, including the potential for waste to value re-use. Critical to our work is consulting and working with all people, including those most vulnerable, to ensure they have safe and equitable access to sanitation services both to protect public health and to maintain dignity.

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Excreta Disposal Manual
Minimum Requirements
Sanitation (the Sani Tweaks Green Card)

Excreta disposal is a service, not a one-off installation Research from latrine programmes shows that on average 40% of women are not using the…

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Surface Water Management in Humanitarian Contexts
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Different Responses, Same Old Shit
Technical Brief
Low Cost Drainage for Emergencies

Purpose of drainage In turn effective drainage can prolong the life of simple structures, reduce breeding grounds for mosquitoes and reduce the build up…

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Faecal Sludge Management in the Rohingya Response

Oxfam is developing significant in dealing with the significant amounts of faecal sludge that sometimes needs to be dealt with in emergencies. Faecal Sludge…

Technical Brief
Domestic and Refugee Camp Waste Management

Waste Management in Natural and Man-made Disasters This technical briefing note deals with the handling and disposal of solid waste from refugee camps and…

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Lime Treatment of Faecal Sludge for Humanitarian Contexts
Technical Brief
Urine Diversion Dry Toilets in Emergencies

Ecological Sanitation or Sustainable Sanitation? The approach of Ecological Sanitation (Ecosan) in emergency settings breaks with conventional excreta disposal options such as pit latrines…

Technical Brief
Design, construction and maintenance of a biogas generator

Introduction Biogas generators extract by-products from organic waste (including human and animal excreta, food stuffs, etc) which can be used to replace traditional fuels…

Technical Brief
Poo Bags for Safe Excreta Disposal in Emergencies

Introduction Safe excreta containment and disposal are critical components in an emergency public health response. Safe excreta management is one of the main barriers…

Technical Brief
Hazardous Waste

What are Hazardous wastes? Hazardous wastes are likely to include asbestos, batteries, gas canisters, hospital wastes, industrial wastes, oils, chemical wastes, pesticides, fungicides, etc.…

Technical Brief
Large Scale Environmental Clean Up Campaigns

Background Earthquakes, Tsunamis, major hurricanes and large-scale flooding can create large quantities waste, of building debris, rubble, sediments, organic waste and possibly even toxic…

Technical Brief
Composting of Organic Materials and Recycling

Introduction Recycling and composting are waste management options, which should be considered as part of an overall waste management solution. However, during the early…

Technical Brief
Septic Tank Guidelines

Septic Tanks  A septic tank takes raw sewage in, allows the solids to settle (sludge) and allows the remaining liquid to flow into the…

Technical Brief
Excreta disposal for physically vulnerable people

Designing facilities with people with disabilities  Men, women and children with physical disabilities may find it difficult to use standard toilet and bathing facilities.…

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Excreta Disposal in Emergencies

This manual is designed for use by field-based technicians, engineers and non-technical staff responsible for sanitation planning, management and intervention in emergencies. This may…

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Tiger Worm Toilet Manual

Tiger Worm Toilets (TWTs), sometimes known as ‘Tiger Toilets’ or vermifilter toilets, contain composting worms inside the pit that process and digest the faeces…

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Septic Tank Field Kit Innovation Report

Field trialling of Septic tank kit 1. Problem/Gap being Addressed: In rapid on-set emergencies where large numbers of people are displaced, agencies first set…

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Fuel Briquettes Innovation Report

Trailing of FAECAL briquettes as an eco-friendly fuel source 1. Problem/gap being addressed: Firewood and charcoal accounts for 82% of cooking fuel used by…

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Container Based Sanitation Innovation Report

Pioneering Household container based toilets in low income urban settlements 1. Problem/Gap being Addressed: Over 2 miilion people live in informal, low income, settlements…

Minimum Requirements
Solid Waste Management

Poor waste management practices cause serious health risks by creating potential vector breeding grounds, contaminating water sources and creating feeding risks to livestock. The…

Technical Brief
Urine Diversion Dry Toilets in Camps

Standard Operating Procedures for Camps Double vault Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) can be used as an alternative to pit latrines in refugee camps.…

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Excreta Disposal

Excreta disposal is a service not just an infrastructure. There is no one size fit all design and many choices need to be made,…

Technical Brief
Lighting for Sanitation Facilities

This Technical Brief looks at the planning and design options for lighting in and around toilets in humanitarian situations, both during the day and…