ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION: OBJECTIVES, PLANS, TYPES, PROBLEMS - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The sanitation covers all technical measures aimed at avoiding and socioeconomic, mitigate or reverse the negative impacts product environment human activities.

The accelerated growth of the human population implies an increase in the demand for resources such as water, food and minerals. On the other hand, the way of life of a part of the population generates pollution of water, soil and air, in addition to causing the deterioration of ecosystems.

Contaminated water in the Chinampas area, Xochimilco, Mexico City. EmyPheebs

Overcrowding, socio-economic imbalances and pollution translate into physical and mental illness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2.1 billion people lack safe water and 4.5 billion do not have toilets at home.

The objective of environmental sanitation is to guarantee a healthy environment for human beings, achieving a better quality of life. To achieve this, actions must be taken to avoid or reduce the negative impact of human activities on the environment.

Environmental sanitation must address the supply of drinking water in sufficient quantity and quality, as well as guaranteeing the quality of air and soil. In the same way, achieve an adequate management of both sewage and solid waste generated and polluting gas emissions, among others.

For this, environmental sanitation covers various areas such as water and soil sanitation and emission control. It also includes solid waste management and vector-borne disease control, among other measures.

An environmental sanitation plan must be based on citizen awareness, since without proper hygiene and conservation habits, a healthy environment cannot be achieved. For this, there must be adequate planning of public services, especially with regard to drinking water and waste management.

Although environmental sanitation is vital for the quality of life of the human being, and even for its survival, it does not stop involving certain problems. Among these drawbacks are the economic costs involved in implementing the required measures and works, as well as the conflicts of interest that can be generated.

Objectives of environmental sanitation

The general objective of environmental sanitation is to guarantee a healthy environment that allows an adequate quality of life for human beings. In this sense, it must address the prevention of contamination of fundamental environmental factors such as water, air and soil.

Therefore, the general ecological balance and the survival of biodiversity must be maintained. The achievement of these goals requires covering a series of objectives in specific areas such as:

Awareness and hygiene habits

A fundamental objective is the education of the population to raise awareness regarding environmental problems and instill changes in behavior that favor the environment. In this way, adequate social pressure can be achieved to promote successful environmental sanitation plans.

On the other hand, the best environmental sanitation plan is to avoid deterioration and this is based on a citizenry with adequate environmental hygiene habits. This includes the correct disposal of solid waste, sewage and maintenance of motor vehicles.

Likewise, support is required for legislative and technical measures aimed at allowing adequate environmental sanitation.

Legislation

Clear and effective regulations are required within a legal framework that regulates the relationship of human beings with their environment, in order to guarantee a healthy environment for all. The legal framework related to environmental sanitation is broad, since it addresses all the laws that prevent and sanction environmental damage.

Technical measures for environmental sanitation

Environmental sanitation establishes specific technical objectives aimed at preventing or solving specific environmental problems. This implies guaranteeing a drinking water supply system and subsequent wastewater treatment.

Likewise, it is necessary to monitor the air quality parameters in a city and implement a solid waste management system.

From the various types or areas of environmental sanitation that are discussed below, the specific specific objectives that are outlined in each area are derived.

Types

Environmental sanitation is an area of ​​public health that addresses the prevention and correction of environmental damage depending on each specific environmental factor. Therefore, each of these factors implies complex problems to be solved and specific measures to be implemented. Among the different types of environmental sanitation, we have:

- Water sanitation

Phytoremediation on old gas rig in Denmark. Source: No machine-readable author provided. Lcl assumed (based on copyright claims).

This includes the adequate supply of water of sufficient quantity and quality to meet vital needs. Subsequently, it is necessary to properly dispose of sewage, both those generated in homes and those produced in industrial, commercial and transport activities.

Drinking water

An adequate supply of drinking water is essential, not only because it is a vital fluid, but because it can be a means of transmitting serious diseases. One in three people in the world lacks adequate drinking water supply systems.

Therefore, the water obtained from unsuitable sources and stored without proper care, can cause serious damage to health. There are a large number of pathogenic microorganisms transmitted through drinking water.

The UN (United Nations Organization) indicates that one of the main causes of infant death is diarrhea. This gastrointestinal disease kills 1.8 million children under the age of 5 each year.

On the other hand, improper storage of water allows the proliferation of disease vectors insects. Among some of these pathologies we can mention malaria and dengue transmitted by mosquitoes.

Wastewater

Water has various uses in the home and in industry and generates a remnant that flows along with all kinds of pollutants. Environmental sanitation establishes the need to treat these sewage before returning it to its natural sources.

For this, it is necessary to establish treatment plants, which vary in their technical elements according to the characteristics of the waters to be treated. Domestic waters contain waste from both washing and excreta disposal, carrying various pollutants (detergents, feces).

For their part, industrial effluents include various pollutants depending on the industry in question. For example, the textile industry generates pollution from chlorine bleaches, colorants and other substances.

In the case of the metallurgical, chemical or mining industry, a large amount of heavy metals are produced that are carried away by the generated effluents.

- Soil sanitation

The soil represents a matrix that can be a support to the structures that are built or to displacement or in the agricultural case a factor of production. A contaminated soil deteriorates the environment and affects public health, which is why it is subject to environmental sanitation.

Solid and liquid waste in the soil can contaminate groundwater sources, be centers for the proliferation of pathogens or render it unusable for agriculture.

A serious problem of soil contamination are heavy metals (cadmium, arsenic, lead or mercury) that cause various diseases of the nervous and digestive system among others.

For the remediation of agricultural soils with acidification problems, corrective measures can be taken by liming (adding agricultural lime). For cases of contamination by heavy metal oil spills, there are technologies such as bioremediation.

Soil bioremediation

In soils contaminated by oil spills, species of fungi and bacteria have been used to degrade polluting hydrocarbons. In the case of fungi, species of the Penicillium, Absidia and Mortierella genera have been used.

There are also certain species of plants capable of growing in soils contaminated with heavy metals. They absorb and retain metals so when they are harvested these pollutants can be extracted from the soil.

In other cases, radical exudates break down pollutants without absorption occurring. This process is called phytoremediation, and species such as Atriplex halimus and Lolium perenne have been used on soils contaminated with hydrocarbons.

- Solid waste management

One of the biggest environmental health problems is the handling of tons of solid waste that humans produce daily in an average city. For example, Mexico City generates about 14 thousand tons of solid waste per day, most of which end up in open landfills.

The accumulation of garbage pollutes the soil, water and air, being a favorable environment for the proliferation of insect vectors of diseases and other pests. One of the challenges of environmental sanitation is dealing with the complex problems of solid waste.

For this, it is necessary to implement an environmental sanitation system that starts from the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).

Environmental education

In this sense, it is necessary for the consumer to understand that they must reduce the amount of waste they produce and have rational consumption. At the same time, you must be a participant in recycling programs and the reuse of these wastes.

Collection and processing system

A conscientious user will reduce, reuse and recycle, and what is not useful will be properly classified. In addition, the State has to guarantee the institutional and technical framework that allows waste to be properly managed.

For this, it is necessary to have specific containers for recycling and the companies that process them. However, in many cases the management of solid waste is restricted to its collection by compactor trucks and its deposit in sanitary landfills.

Likewise, these landfills generally are no more than simple open-air garbage deposits, sources of contamination.

- Emission control

Another area of ​​environmental sanitation has to do with guaranteeing the quality of the air we breathe. The most relevant sources of air pollutants are motor vehicle traffic, the burning of coal to produce energy and industrial emissions.

In this case, various strategies tailored to each particular source of pollution come into play. Industrial emissions are regulated with technical standards that require making certain processes more efficient and using suitable filter systems.

The burning of coal in thermoelectric plants is one of the most important sources of atmospheric pollution worldwide. Among the major coal consumers we find China, which exceeds 4 billion tons per year, and India and the United States, which each approach one billion.

Coal generates CO2 (one of the main greenhouse gases) and mercury, a very dangerous pollutant for health. For example, during 2016, 36 million tons of CO2 were generated in Spanish thermal power plants.

Associated with the burning of coal are diseases such as asthma, heart disease and cancer. In this case, environmental sanitation is oriented towards the implementation of clean energies (solar, hydroelectric, among others).

On the other hand, the control of vehicle emissions merits technological developments such as the catalytic converter to reduce the polluting elements in the gases emitted. In turn, the removal of tetraethyl lead in gasoline has contributed to environmental sanitation, since lead is a dangerous pollutant.

- Control of vector-borne diseases

Various diseases are caused by pathogens that require a biological vector (an organism that carries or transmits a pathogen) in their life cycle. According to the WHO, vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases.

These diseases cause more than 700,000 deaths annually worldwide and among these are malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease and yellow fever. Vectors range from mosquitoes, flies, ticks, and bed bugs, to snails and rodents.

In such a way that an important part of environmental sanitation is the control of biological vectors. Therefore, measures such as adequate hygiene practices, drainage construction, drinking water services and pest control, among others, must be taken.

In some cases, environmental sanitation for vector control implies causing significant alterations to natural ecosystems. For example, in the control of malaria and yellow fever it was necessary to drain large natural swamps to restrict the vector (mosquitoes).

A factor that today adds to the complexity of the problem is global warming. This facilitates the expansion of tropical biological vectors to higher latitudes.

- Sanitary control of food and beverages

It is an important field of environmental sanitation, since poorly processed or contaminated food produces intoxications that affect health. This requires surveillance and control throughout the food chain from production, processing, transportation and marketing.

In this area, FAO has the “Crisis Management Framework for the Food Chain”. This program provides an effective multidisciplinary approach to threats to the food chain, integrating prevention, early warning, preparedness and response.

- Animal and plant health

Environmental sanitation in this area encompasses agroecological aspects, protection of biodiversity and rational use of natural resources. In the same way, it takes care of zoonotic diseases (transmission from animals to humans) and the safety of derived foods.

In this sense, everything related to border sanitation of products of animal and vegetable origin deserves special attention. Surveillance in land, sea and air customs is essential to prevent the entry or exit of living organisms or derivatives that can carry pathogens.

FAO serves this field with its Animal Health Crisis Management Center, which is a rapid response unit. This center works with governments to prevent or limit the spread of high-impact animal diseases.

- Occupational and environmental health

A very particular area of ​​environmental sanitation is that which deals with the work environment. It includes the establishment and fulfillment of the necessary measures to guarantee a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly work environment.

There are many diseases associated with an unsuitable work environment, either due to risks of mechanical, emotional or pollution damage. Excessive noise, gas emissions, and generally unsafe areas can cause serious health problems for workers.

- Urbanism

Environmental sanitation is also responsible for dealing with urban planning. This includes regulations for construction, remodeling and related public services in order to harmonize the different environmental dimensions involved.

Environmental sanitation plan (activities)

Problems due to lack of environmental sanitation in Haiti. Source: Rémi Kaupp

The design and implementation of an environmental sanitation plan will vary according to the scope of action. It can be a plan for water sanitation or solid waste management, or restricted to a particular company.

On the other hand, it can be more inclusive and address a community's environmental sanitation plan. In this case, all types of environmental sanitation come into play.

- Diagnosis

It is prior to the plan itself, where problems or threats to the environment that must be corrected are identified. Likewise, strengths and weaknesses should be taken into account to address them.

To do this, risk factors for health are identified, determined by inappropriate practices. This stage is fundamental, since it will allow adjusting the proposals to the concrete reality, collecting and analyzing data in each specific environmental area.

For example, the sanitation plan of an urban community deserves detailed population information. On the other hand, it is necessary to know the economic activities of the area and the wastes of different nature that are generated.

In addition, you must have information about the state of public services and even the culture and idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants. The diagnosis will allow to identify the main environmental problems and to prefigure possible solutions.

- Design of preventive or corrective measures

Then the concrete proposals are designed according to the environmental problems detected. Depending on the case, this ranges from legal measures or the construction of infrastructures to the transfer of a certain industry outside the urban area.

In other situations, it is necessary to replace precarious housing with more hygienic buildings, as for example in the campaign against Chagas disease. This disease is caused by a parasite (Trypanosoma cruzi) transmitted by the bite of a bed bug (Triatominos).

The bed bug inhabits the thatched roofs of the huts, so to achieve environmental sanitation it was necessary to replace this type of housing.

Economic and social feasibility

The design of any alternative for environmental sanitation must consider its economic feasibility and its social viability. The economic not only includes the availability of resources to implement the measure, but also the impact of this measure on the local economy.

Local customs and customs must be taken into account, either to avoid colliding with them or to establish an appropriate educational plan to change them.

Education and promotion of hygiene habits

It is important to take into account that any proposal must include the social dimension, especially the part of citizen education. Thus, the best plan on paper will fail in reality if it does not have the conscious commitment of those involved.

On the other hand, many environmental health problems are related to poor hygiene habits in the home. Such is the case of the proliferation of rodents and insect vectors of diseases due to poor food storage.

- Implementation

The implementation phase addresses a series of specific technical elements according to the area of ​​environmental sanitation in question. Providing drinking water to a community and treating sewage entails the construction of infrastructure.

A solid waste collection and processing system also encompasses various technical aspects combined with citizenship education.

- Activities

Depending on the problems raised, the implementation of the environmental sanitation plan will involve activities such as:

- Guarantee the supply of drinking water and the management of wastewater.

- Manage solid waste.

- Control air pollution.

- Sanitation of means of transport.

- Control soil contamination.

- Control the health of food and beverages.

- Control the health of homes.

- Control biological vectors and epidemiology.

- Sanitation of public areas.

- Address the aspects of industrial hygiene and occupational safety.

- Monitoring, surveillance and control

An environmental sanitation plan faces complex dynamics that vary over time and must be constantly supervised to adjust it to requirements. For example, the population grows and demands more resources and environmental threats increase.

On the other hand, monitoring compliance with the established rules and procedures is a fundamental condition for the success of the plan. For example, when addressing the problem of air pollution, an air quality monitoring system is essential.

In this sense, in the main cities of many countries there are stations that measure and report the composition of the air. It also occurs in an environmental sanitation plan for a river, where permanent control of the water quality variables is necessary.

At the same time, there must be a monitoring of compliance with the regulations on gas emissions in the case of air, or the discharge of effluents reaching the river.

Problems caused by environmental sanitation

Human needs versus natural ecosystems

Many times the demands of environmental sanitation are in contradiction with the conservation of natural environments. For example, when drainage of a swampy area near a city is required to combat disease-transmitting pests.

This occurred, for example, in the campaigns for the eradication of malaria in Latin America and was a relevant case during the construction of the Panama Canal.

Economy

According to some detractors of certain environmental sanitation measures, these become a brake on economic development, by limiting the competitive capacity of companies.

It was very popular when the US refused to ratify the extension of the Kyoto agreement against global warming. This country argued that the measures were exaggerated and limited US economic growth.

Undoubtedly, these problems reduce their magnitude when contrasted with the long-term consequences of not implementing the required environmental sanitation.

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