Many people in drought-affected areas are getting really worried about what will happen when we don't have
enough water to flush the toilets. There are alternative dry sanitation solutions that you can start looking at now,
both in preparation for Day Zero and to reduce your water use to delay Day Zero for as long as possible.
1. After Day Zero will I still be able to flush my toilet with rainwater/greywater?
You should be able to flush your toilets with rainwater, greywater or groundwater as long as the sewage systems are still
functional. It would be wise to use as little of your precious daily allocation of drinking water for flushing – so it is worth
considering alternative dry options both to save water and to be ready for Day Zero.
2. Why can’t I just flush with sea water?
Flushing with seawater in the metropolitan area is NOT an option. Seawater flushing will increase salt in the wastewater
treatment plants, and if the salinity levels get too high the microbes which treat the sewerage can’t survive and the
treatment plants will stop working. Then we would end up with an even bigger problem as our wastewater plants would
become inoperable. The same principle applies to septic tank systems which rely on microbes to decompose the sewerage.
Suburbs on the Atlantic seaboard (Green Point, Sea Point, Camps Bay to Hout Bay) discharge sewerage out to sea via
a pipeline; under emergency conditions you can flush with sea water in these areas.
3. Will the sewage systems still work after Day Zero?
The City of Cape Town has indicated that the sewage systems will continue to work after Day Zero. They intend to flush
the system at appropriate points to keep the sewerage moving. The city engineers are working at ensuring that the system
continues to function in order to protect the health of the public as well as the infrastructure. Our sewage system has not
worked under these conditions before and we should expect the unexpected – treatment plants or sewerage pipes could
fail under these extreme conditions and we should all be ready to make contingency plans.
4. What is more dangerous - urine or faeces?
Urine (pee) is essentially sterile which means it is free of bacteria. If you can urinate (pee) in your (private) garden onto soil
it will be absorbed and not present health problems providing the volumes aren’t too high. Spread it around so that it
doesn’t get concentrated and smell. In contrast, faeces (poo) present a health hazard as it contains disease-carrying
bacteria and microbes. It is critical that faeces are dealt with safely and do not come into contact with people or animals
such as dogs. Open defecation (pooing in the veld or on farms) is a real hazard and globally there are many initiatives
trying to eradicate this practice to ensure both dignity and health. Our waterborne sanitation system has been designed to
safely remove poo and pee and ensure we don’t come into contact with it. Good sanitation, combined with hand-washing,
dramatically reduces the risk of disease. In the ‘New Normal’ – a drier future for Cape Town – we need to relook at the best
methods to safely provide sanitation while using less water. This challenge is recognised around the world.
5. So what is the simplest solution for Day Zero?
Many people are looking into the option of dry sanitation. A dry toilet, as the name suggests, operates without any water
to flush away poo or pee. The easiest option is a dry compost toilet. This is a bucket housed in a box to support your
weight with a toilet seat of your choice and organic material to cover the poo. The cover material can be sawdust or
decomposed compost (lots of good bugs). If you use a dry compost system it’s really important to keep your face well
clear when handling the buckets and use a good pair of kitchen gloves that you can clean and re-use especially for the task.
After the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand in 2011, an organisation called Relieve coordinated an effort to provide
information and support for people who were doing without their usual sewage systems.
Issued by www.wwf.org.za
