HOUSING, ENVIRONMENT & SANITATION

“Mid pleasures & palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home”
J.H.Payne 1791-1852
“Home, sweet home”
(1823-song)
On earth every living creature has a home of its own desire & need.
House provide them shelter & environment for growing & living.
Environment & sanitation of area where an individual is living are important
for health of people. Health is affected by factors like light, air, water,
crowding, sanitary facilities, noise etc prevailing in residential environment.
There is a dynamic equilibrium between man and the external environment
& disturbance in it lead to ill health. So to prevent disturbance sanitation is
important tool. So to understand this science lets see what these component
– House, Environment & sanitation are.

Housing in addition to physical structure also includes the immediate

surroundings and related community services and facilities. According WHO
which use term residential environment “house is a physical structure that
man uses and the environment of the structure including all necessary
services, facilities, equipments and devices needed to designed for physical,
mental, social well being of an individual and his family.”

Environment is the total sum of external conditions influencing life,

development of an organism, human behaviour and society. For descriptive
purpose environment is divided in three parts:
1. Physical includes air, housing, waste, light, soil
2. Biological includes animals, insects, rodents
3. Social includes cultures, habits, income, occupation, religion

Sanitation is a science of safe guarding. According to WHO it is

defined as control of all those factors in men’s physical environment, health
& survival. According to National sanitation foundation in U.S.A. “sanitation
is a way of life, it is a quality of living that is expressed in clear homes, clear
farm, clear business, clear neighbourhood & clear community.”
Way from collage
to patient’s home
Data of our patient:-
Residence – 23-A, Aviskar society, Harniwarsia ring road, vadodara.

Here is patient’s house coloured with red.

Road of society Front side of house

Site – House is at elevation of 2 ft (plinth height) from ground.

Surrounding – close veranda of 25.2×27 = 680.4 sq ft area

House on street side

Floor – Pucca, built up of cement, Washable.

Total build up area is 20×22.2 = 444 sq ft (on ground floor)
Total build up area is 25.2×27 = 680.4 Sq ft (on 1st floor & 2nd floor)
Total area = 1804.8 sq ft
So floor area per person is 451.2 sq ft (optimum requirement is 100 sq ft)

Walls – Made up of brick and cement with overlying smooth plaster.

Roof – height of roof on every floor is 10 ft.

Space – (20×22.2×10) + (2{25.2×27×10}) = 18048 cu. Ft.

 Space/person = 4512 cu. ft (minimum requirement = 500 cu. ft &
preferably it should be 1000 cu ft

Rooms – 9 rooms [4 bed room, 2 kitchen, 2 living rooms, 1 worship room]

Total person reside are four so 4 person/9 room = adequate
Note: plan view of 2nd floor is not available as it was not planed only made with help of
contractor.
On 2nd floor – 2 room + 1 attached toilet bathroom are there. Both Rooms
are of 9.5×12 sq ft (2.85 × 3.60sq meters)Bathroom is 6.2 ×12 ft.
Kitchen – 2 kitchens are there but only one is used. Kitchen platform is
made up of granite marble. Water for cooking and drinking are
stored in pots & refrigerator. Kitchen is free from rodents &
insects. They are using insecticide & rodenticide every 15-20 days.

Windows – Type 1 = 5.06×4.06 = 20.54 sq ft - in all room except in kitchen,

So percentage of window area per floor area of that room is
19.11≈20%. There fore it is 1/5th of floor area which is standard.
Type 2 = 5.06×3.03 = 15.33 sq ft - in kitchen So percentage of
window area of kitchen is 18.11≈20%. There fore it is also
adequate.
Most windows open directly on to open space. Windows are
placed at the height of 3 ft from floor.

Doors – Area of 7.1×3.03 = 21.51 sq ft door is placed in all rooms except

bathroom & wash room. So percentage of door area per floor area of
that room is 20.83 %≈1/5 of total floor area.

So total windows + door area is 2/5 of floor area of related room.

Latrine facilities - There are 3 toilets in patient’s house. Each floor has one.
On ground floor & 1st floor they are separate from
bathroom. On 2nd floor there is attached toilet-bathroom.
Floor is made up of tiles. There is wooden door of 7.1×2.53
= 17.96 sq ft size.
Latrine pans are of Indian type.

Bathroom facilities – There are 3 bathrooms one on each floor. Floor is made
up of tiles. There is wooden door of 7.1×2.53 = 17.96
sq ft size.

Water supply – Water is supplied by Municipal Corporation in a morning for

an hour daily. Water stored in tank of society from
municipality supply is also supplied in evening for ½ hour.
Water for drinking & washing is same.

Water storage – One underground tank & another over head tank are used
for storage of water. Tanks are made up of cement & brick;
lined by tiles.
Underground tank - 8×5×5 = 200 cu ft
Overhead tank – 6×4×6 = 144 cu ft

Fuel supply – use LPG for cooking purpose

Drainage – all dirty water & waste are drained into gutters.

Solid waste – Municipal vehicle comes everyday for collection of waste. They
store waste in dustbin.

Arrangement of food storage - Refrigerator is there. Grains are stored in

“pips”(boxes made up of aluminum).
Lighting – Sunlight is adequate during day time. In night they use electrical
lights for illumination. In every room there is a tube light which is adequate.

Ventilation –All rooms have proper windows for proper cross ventilation. In
every room there is a fan. Kitchen have exhaust fan. In veranda trees are
there so fresh air is available.

Hospital facilities – Kalawati hospital & other 2-4 private clinics are there
near to patient’s house.

Transport – The house is ½ km far from the city bus-stop.

Pollution – The house of patient is free from any noise pollution, air
pollution, water pollution or soil pollution.

Conclusion:
 Patient is from upper middle class so housing condition is good.
 Environment is free from stress so it has no part contributing in
patient’s high blood pressure.
 Overcrowding is absent & Lighting, ventilation, sanitation etc facilities
are good so lees likely chance of any other diseases to be prevalent in
family of patient.

So in last but not least don’t forget the motto given below:

“CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.”