Environmental

Sanitation
Topics

 Water Sanitation
 Housing Sanitation
 Food Safety and Sanitation
 Control of Air Pollution
 Insect and Rodent Control
 Sewage Disposal
What is environmental sanitation?

 Setof actions geared towards improving the quality of the

environment and reducing the amount of disease
 By doing so, the hope is that living conditions will
improve and health problems will decrease
 Management of water, solid waste, industrial waste, noise
control
Waste Management
 Affects environmental conditions of a given area
 How waste is disposed of varies based on living conditions and the accepted
standard of living in a geographical area
 While some communities provide wastewater treatment and trash collection,
others do not
 Reduces the ability to control the well-being of the environment and its people
 When waste is not removed and treated properly, pollution may lead to the
spread of disease
 When proper disposal and treatment methods are followed, disease and
pollution can usually be reduced
Solid Waste Management

 Common ways to dispose of the garbage:

 Incarceration- the burning of waste
 Landfills- places to store waste.
 Trash incinerators
can be used to
convert some
solid waste to
energy, though
they create air
pollution
 A site for the
disposal of
waste materials
by burial and is
the oldest form
of waste
treatment
 The liquid that drains or ‘leaches’ from a landfill
 Itvaries widely in composition regarding the age of the landfill and
the type of waste that it contains
 It usually contains both dissolved and suspended material
How does the trash in a landfill
decompose?
 There are three classes of bacteria and fungi that work to degrade
garbage
 Cellulolytic microbes initiate the process by breaking down the
cellulose in paper, wood, and other plant wastes into sugar
 Acidogens ferment these sugars into acids
 Methanogens convert the acids into methane gas and carbon
dioxide
What is the problem with such terms as
biodegradable, oxodegradable, and
photodegradable?
 Although green-advertising claims such as biodegradable, oxodegradable,
and photodegradable sound good, they aren't always true
 Biodegradable plastics- due to the addition of starch simply disintegrate
into tiny non-degradable pieces after the starch has been degraded
 Photodegradable plastics cannot be broken down in garbage cans or
landfills because their degradation requires sunlight
What is water sanitation?
 The process of cleaning water to make it safe for drinking,
bathing, cooking, and other uses
 Cleanwater is important to people in every country because
harmful substances in water can cause illness and even death
 Untreatedwater may contain viruses, bacteria, and other
dangerous substances that represent health risks for those who
consume it
 While people in developed countries may take access to clean
water for granted, there are many people who do not have
safe water
 There are over a billion people around the world who do not
have daily access to clean water
 Every year, millions of people face fatal diseases that may be
linked to unsafe drinking water and other sanitation problems
 Sanitation ensures that
water is safe for
drinking, cooking,
bathing and other uses
 It is important to filter ground water before drinking it
 Testing can help determine whether well water is safe for
drinking
 Boiling water can kill off many dangerous pathogens, but
won't remove certain toxins
 Very small amounts of bleach can be used to sanitize water
Common methods of treating water

 Flocculation
 Filtration
 Adsorption
 Ion exchange
 Disinfection
Flocculation

 Using a substance to combine smaller particles into larger

particles and then separating the larger particles from the
water
Filtration

 Removing particles like microorganisms, clay, organic

matter, and certain metals from the water
Adsorption

 Using activated carbon to absorb and remove undesirable

organic contaminants, colors, and tastes
Ion exchange

 Exchanging positively and negatively charged versions of

molecules and then getting rid of the unwanted ions
 Remove certain inorganic contaminants
 Arsenic, nitrogen, uranium
Disinfection

 Involves killing microbes

 Chlorine, chloramine, ultraviolet, ozone, radiation
Some methods of cleaning water without
chemicals and filters
 Boiling-Heating water to boiling temperature and then
allowing it to simmer for several minutes

 Bleaching- Add 1/8 teaspoon (0.616 milliliters) of bleach

to 1 gallon (3.78 liters) of water and letting it sit for 30
minutes If the water is cloudy instead of clear, it’s better to
use a 1/4 teaspoon (1.23 milliliters) of bleach to 1 gallon
(3.78 liters) of water
How do we know that water is safe to use?

 Have it tested
Analytical Methods and Laboratory Certification
under the Safe Drinking Water Act
 EPA
 United States Environmental Protection Agency
Laboratory Role

 Laboratories analyze PWSs

 public water systems’ water samples
 provide the PWSs with information on the quality of their
water
Water sample types analyzed and purposes
of analysis:
 Source water samples- check for contamination and determine
general water quality characteristics that influence the treatment
processes
 Process water samples- provide key information relevant to
treatment optimization
 Finished water samples- verify the water meets health-based and
aesthetic standards and periodically check for contaminants that are
not regulated in drinking water
Water System Monitoring Frequency

 Type of contaminant

 Type of source water used to produce drinking water

 Population served by the public water system

Analytical Method

 Determines the concentration of a contaminant in a water

sample

 How to collect, preserve, and store the sample

 Proceduresto concentrate, separate, identify, and quantify
contaminants present in the sample
 Quality control criteria the analytical data must meet
 How to report the results of the analysis
Types of Water Analysis

 Physical analysis of water-  indicates properties detectable by the

senses

 Chemical analysis of water- determine the amounts of mineral and

organic substances that affect water quality

 Bacteriologic analysis of water- shows the presence of bacteria,

characteristic of fecal pollution
Physical analysis of water

 Color
 Turbidity
 Total solids
 Dissolved solids
 Suspended solids
 Odor
 Taste
Chemical analysis of water

 pH
 Hardness
 Presence of selected group of chemical parameters,
biocides, highly toxic chemicals
 BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

 Amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological

organisms in a body of water to break down organic
material present in a given water sample at certain
temperature over a specific time period
Bacterial intestinal pathogens known to be
transmitted in drinking-water
 Salmonella
 Shigella
 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
 Vibrio cholera
 Yersinia enterocolitica
 Campylobacter fetus
 Legionella pneumophila- a soil bacterium, may be contracted by
inhalation exposure to the bacteria in water
Human enteric viruses that may be present
in water
 Poliovirus
 Echovirus
 Coxsackie Virus A
 Coxsackie Virus B
 new enterovirus types 68-71
 Hepatitis type A
 Gastroenteritis type Norwalk
 Rotavirus
 Adenovirus
Protozoans that be transmitted in
drinking-water
 Giardia
 Cryptosporidium spp
 Entamoeba histolytica
 Balantidium coli
 Naegleria
 Acanthamoeba
Bacteriologic analysis of water

 Determines presence of indicator organisms rather than pathogens

 Indicator organisms are commonly found in the human or animal gut and
if detected may suggest the presence of sewage
 Increasein presence of indicator organisms signify presence of
pathogenic organisms
 Indicator
organisms provide evidence of fecal contamination from
humans or warm-blooded animals

 Non-specific coliforms 
 Frequent examinations for fecal indicator organisms
remain as the most sensitive and specific way of assessing
the hygienic quality of water
 Fecal indicator bacteria should fulfill certain criteria to
give meaningful results
 The tests required to detect specific pathogens are
generally very difficult and expensive so it is impractical
for water systems to routinely test for specific types of
organisms
 A more practical approach is to examine the water for
indicator organisms specifically associated with fecal
contamination
Criteria for an ideal organism
 Always present when pathogenic organism of concern is present,
and absent in clean, uncontaminated water
 Present in large numbers in the feces of humans and warm-blooded
animals
 Respond to natural environmental conditions and to treatment
process in a manner similar to the waterborne pathogens of interest
 Readily detectable by simple methods, easy to isolate, identify and
enumerate
 Ratio of indicator/pathogen should be high
 Indicator and pathogen should come from the same source
(gastrointestinal tract)
Coliform bacteria

 Fulfills most of the criteria for an indicator organism

 Aerobic and facultative anaerobic, gram-negative, non-
spore forming, rod-shaped bacteria that ferment lactose
with gas formation within 48 h at 35 oC
 Escherichia coli - the most numerous facultative bacterium
in the feces of warm-blooded animals,
 Species belonging to the genera Enterobacter, Klebsiella,
and Citrobacter
Some methods of bacteriologic water
analysis
 Multiple tube method
 ATP Testing
 Plate count
 Membrane filtration
 Pour plates
Multiple tube method

 One of the oldest methods for microbial analysis of water

 A measured sub-sample (perhaps 10 ml) is diluted with 100 ml of
sterile growth medium and an aliquoit of 10 ml is then decanted
into each of ten tubes
 Tubes are then incubated at a pre-set temperature for a specified
time
 At the end of the process, the number of tubes with growth is
counted for each dilution
 Can be enhanced by using
indicator medium
 Changes color when acid
forming species are present
 Includesa tiny inverted tube
which catches any gas produced
 Production of gas at 37 degrees
Celsius is a strong indication of
the presence of Escherichia coli
ATP Testing

 Process of rapidly measuring active

microorganisms in water through
detection of ATP
 ATP is quantified by measuring the light
produced through its reaction with
luciferase using a luminometer
 Amount of light produced is directly
proportional to the amount of biological
energy present in the sample
 Plate count
 Relies on bacteria growing
a colony on a nutrient
medium so that the colony
becomes visible to the
naked eye and the number
of colonies on a plate can
be counted
Membrane filtration
 A refinement of total plate count
 Serial dilutions of sample are
vacuum filtered through purpose
filters 
 Filters
are placed on nutrient
medium within sealed plates
 Similar to conventional total plate
counts
 Pour plates
 When the analysis is looking for
bacterial species that grow poorly
in air, the initial analysis is done
by mixing serial dilutions of the
sample in liquid nutrient agar
 Poured into bottles which are then
sealed and laid on their sides to
produce a sloping agar surface
 Colonies that develop in the
medium can be counted by eye
after incubation
Total Viable Count (TVC)

 Total number of colonies 

 Unit of measurement is cfu/ml
 Colony forming units per milliliter
How do we determine whether water is
"swimmable"?
 Recreation standards
 Mean of 5 samples over a 30-day period is required to be
less than 125 CFU/100 mL, with no sample testing higher
than 235 CFU/100 mL
Potable water

 water
fit for consumption by
humans and other animals
 Also called drinking water
 Water may be naturally potable, as
is the case with pristine springs
 May need to be treated in order to
be safe
Philippine National Standards for Drinking
Water 2007
Source and mode of Supply Minimum Frequency of
Sampling
Emergency Supplies of Drinking Before delivery to users
Water
Water Refilling Stations 1 sample monthly

Water Vending Machines 1 sample monthly

 For drinking water, E.coli must be less than 1 CFU/100 mL

Housing Sanitation

 The provision of facilities and services for the safe

disposal of human urine and feces

 Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-

wide and improving sanitation is known to have a
significant beneficial impact on health both in households
and across communities
Food Safety and Sanitation

 Scientificdiscipline describing handling, preparation, and

storage of  food in ways that prevent foodborne illness
 This includes a number of routines that should be followed
to avoid potentially severe health hazards 
 Safetybetween industry and the market and then between
the market and the consumer
 Food can transmit disease from person
to person
 Serve as a growth medium for
bacteria that can cause food poisoning 
 In developed countries there are
intricate standards for food preparation
 In lesser developed countries, the main
issue is simply the availability of
adequate safe water 
 In theory, food poisoning is 100%
preventable
Five key principles of food hygiene, according to the
World Health Organization

 Prevent contaminating food with pathogens spreading from people,

pets, and pests
 Separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contaminating the cooked
foods
 Cook foods for the appropriate length of time and at the appropriate
temperature to kill pathogens
 Store food at the proper temperature
 Do use safe water and raw materials
ISO 22000

 Developed by the International Organization for Standardization

dealing with food safety
 Specifies the requirements for a food safety management system

 Interactive communication
 System management
 Pre-requisite programs
 HACCP principles
Principles of HCCP
Hazard analysis and critical control points
 Conduct a hazard analysis
 Identify critical control points
 Establish critical limits for each critical control point
 Establish critical control point monitoring requirements
 Establish corrective actions
 Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as
intended
 Establish record keeping procedures
Milk, Cheese, and Dairy Products
 Milk and milk products provide a wealth of nutrition benefits
 Some people continue to believe that pasteurization harms milk and that raw milk
is a safe healthier alternative
 Raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks
 According to (CDC), between 1993 and 2006 more than 1500 people in the
United States became sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from
raw milk
 Unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely to cause foodborne illness
 Results in 13 times more hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized
dairy products
Some common myths and proven facts
about milk and pasteurization
 Raw milk DOES NOT kill dangerous pathogens by itself
 Pasteurizing milk DOES NOT cause lactose intolerance
and allergic reactions. Both raw milk and pasteurized milk
can cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to milk
proteins
 Pasteurization DOES NOT reduce milk's nutritional value
 Pasteurization DOES NOT mean that it is safe to leave
milk out of the refrigerator for extended time, particularly
after it has been opened
 Pasteurization DOES kill harmful bacteria
 Pasteurization DOES save lives
Raw milk

 Milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been

pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria
 Can carry dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli,
and Listeria
Pasteurization

 Kills
harmful bacteria by heating milk to a specific
temperature for a set period of time
 First developed by Louis Pasteur in 1864
 Kills harmful organisms responsible for such diseases as
listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and
brucellosis
Symptoms of foodborne illness

 Vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain

 Flulike symptoms such as fever, headache, and body ache
Dangers of Listeria and Pregnancy

 Miscarriage
 Fetal death or illness
 Death of a newborn
Is Your Homemade Ice Cream Safe?

 Each year, homemade ice cream causes serious outbreaks of

infection from Salmonella
 Raw or undercooked eggs
Everyone can
practice safe food
handling by
following these
four simple steps:
Control of Air Pollution

 Pollution control equipment can reduce emissions by

cleaning exhaust and dirty air before it leaves the business

 A wide variety of equipment can be used to clean dirty air

Bag Houses or Fabric Filters

  Widelyused industrial strength

"vacuum cleaners"
 They remove particulate matter found
in smoke, vapors, dust or mists
Scrubbers or Wet Collectors

 Remove particles or gases from

the exhaust stream by using
water sprays
 Gases can be absorbed if they are
water-soluble or by adding
various chemicals to the spray
Adsorbers
 A porous solid material is
used to soak up gaseous
air contaminants from the
exhaust air
 Inside an adsorber, air
passes through a layer of
materials for pollutants to
adhere or "stick" 
Cyclones
 Dirty air is forced into the cyclone
where it moves in a circular motion in
increasingly tighter circles
 Centrifugal force causes the larger
particles to move toward the outside
wall
 Like a large, fast moving car attempting
a tight curve, the large particles cannot
make the turn
 They impact the wall and fall to the
bottom for collection
Vapor Condensers

 Turn gas vapors to liquid by

cooling them down
Electrostatic Precipitators

 Charge airborne particles in

the exhaust stream
Flares

 Combustion can also be used

to control emissions of
hydrocarbons and other
organic vapors such as
chlorine, fluorine, and
particulate matter (soot)
Afterburners

 use a flame enclosed within

a chamber
 Combustion by-products
include water vapor and
carbon dioxide gas
 They are commonly used
to destroy volatile organic
compounds
Catalytic Oxidizers

 Speed up the burning of

organic gases or require
lower temperatures to
save fuel usage and
reduce costs
Insect and Rodent Control

 Insects and rodents spread

germs and are generally
unhealthy
 The best way to control pests is
to prevent their entry in the first
place
To prevent infestations:

 Provide screens for exterior windows and doors, and keep

screens closed at all times
 Close all cracks, holes, and other openings to the outside
to prevent rodents and insects from entering
 Have a pest control program
Using pesticides:
 For flying insects in the food preparation areas, use only approved
natural-based insecticides or a flyswatter
 Do not allow insecticides to come in contact with raw or cooked
food, utensils, or equipment used in food preparation and serving or
with any other food contact surface
 Do not use insect strips that hang from the ceiling
 All extermination using chemicals and insecticides should be
provided only by a certified pest control operator 
 Watch where the chemicals or insecticides are applied to be certain
that food preparation surfaces and child contact areas are not
contaminated
Types of Pesticides

 Chemical Pesticides

 Biopesticides
Chemical Pesticides

 Synthetic materials that directly kill or inactivate the pest

Some examples of chemically-related
pesticides
 Organophosphate Pesticides
 Carbamate Pesticides
 Organochlorine Insecticides
 Pyrethroid Pesticides
Organophosphate Pesticides

 Affect the nervous system by disrupting the enzyme that regulates

acetylcholine
 Most organophosphates are insecticides
 Developed during the early 19th century, but their effects on insects,
which are similar to their effects on humans, were discovered in
1932
 Some are very poisonous
 Used in World War II as nerve agents
 However, they usually are not persistent in the environment
Carbamate Pesticides

 Affect the nervous system by disupting an enzyme that

regulates acetylcholine
 Enzyme effects are usually reversible
Organochlorine Insecticides

  Commonly used in the past, but have been removed from

the market due to their health and environmental effects
and their persistence
Pyrethroid Pesticides

 Developed as a synthetic version of the naturally occurring

pesticide pyrethrin, which is found in chrysanthemums
 They have been modified to increase their stability in the
environment
 Some synthetic pyrethroids are toxic to the nervous system
Biopesticides

 Derived from such natural materials as animals, plants,

bacteria, and certain minerals
 For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal
applications and are considered biopesticides
 At the end of 2001, there were approximately 195
registered biopesticide active ingredients and 780 products
Biopesticides fall into three major
classes:
 Microbial pesticides
 Plant Incorporated Protectants
 Biochemical pesticides  
Microbial pesticides

 Consist of microorganisms as the active ingredient

 Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of
pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively
specific for its target pest
 For example, there are fungi that control certain weeds,
and other fungi that kill specific insects
The most widely used microbial pesticides are
subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis

 BT
 Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of
proteins
 kills one or a few related species of insect larvae
 Some Bt's control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt's are
specific for larvae of flies and mosquitoes
 Targetinsect species are determined by whether the particular
Bt produces a protein that can bind to a larval gut receptor
causing the insect larvae to starve
Plant Incorporated Protectants

 Pesticidalsubstances that plants produce from genetic material

added to the plant
 For example, scientists can take the gene for the Bt pesticidal
protein, and introduce the gene into the plant's own genetic material
 Then the plant, instead of the Bt bacterium, manufactures the
substance that destroys the pest
 The protein and its genetic material, but not the plant itself, are
regulated by EPA
Biochemical pesticides

 Naturallyoccurring substances that control pests by non-

toxic mechanisms
 Include substances, such as insect sex pheromones, that
interfere with mating, as well as various scented plant
extracts that attract insect pests to traps
 Difficult to determine whether a substance meets the
criteria for classification as a biochemical pesticide, EPA
has established a special committee to make such
decisions
Pest Types
 Algicides- Control algae in lakes, canals, swimming pools, water tanks, and
other sites
 Antifouling agents- Kill or repel organisms that attach to underwater
surfaces, such as boat bottoms
 Attractants- Attract pests for example, to lure an insect or rodent to a
trap). However, food is not considered a pesticide when used as an
attractant
 Biopesticides- certain types of pesticides derived from natural materials as
animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals
 Biocides- Kill microorganisms
 Disinfectants and sanitizers- Kill or inactivate disease-producing
microorganisms on inanimate objects
 Fungicides- Kill fungi
 Fumigants- Produce gas or vapor intended to destroy pests in
buildings or soil
 Herbicides- Kill weeds and other plants that grow where they are
not wanted
 Insecticides- Kill insects and other arthropods
 Miticides- Also called acaricides. Kill mites that feed on plants and
animals
 Microbial pesticides- Microorganisms that kill, inhibit, or out
compete pests, including insects or other microorganisms
 Molluscicides- Kill snails and slugs
 Nematicides- Kill nematodes
 Ovicides- Kill eggs of insects and mites
 Pheromones- Biochemicals used to disrupt the mating behavior of
insects
 Repellents- Repel pests, including insects and birds
 Rodenticides- Control mice and other rodents
The term pesticide also includes these
substances:
 Defoliants- Cause leaves or other foliage to drop from a
plant, usually to facilitate harvest
 Desiccants-Promote drying of living tissues, such as
unwanted plant tops
 Insectgrowth regulators- Disrupt the molting, maturity
from pupal stage to adult, or other life processes of insects
 Plant growth regulators- Substances excluding fertilizers
or other plant nutrients that alter the expected growth,
flowering, or reproduction rate of plants
Pest Control Devices

 EPA also has a role in regulating devices used to control pests

 A "device" is any instrument or contrivance other than a
firearm, intended for trapping, destroying, repelling, or
mitigating any pest
 A mousetrap is an example of a device
 Unlike pesticides, EPA does not require devices to be registered
with the Agency
 Devices are subject to certain labeling, packaging, record
keeping, and import, and export requirements, however
Methods of sewage treatment

 Everycommunity should have a way of disposing of

sewage so that people, animals and flies cannot touch it
 Sewage system
Different types of sewage systems

 On-site system
 Effluent (wastewater) disposal system
 Full sewage system
On-site system

 Treats the sewage in a septic tank so that most of the

sewage becomes effluent and is disposed of in an area
close to the house or buildings
 Septic tank and leach drains
On-site system

 All the liquid waste from the toilet, bathroom, laundry and
sink goes into pipes which carry it to a septic tank
 The effluent from the tank is then disposed of through
effluent disposal drains often referred to
as leach or French drains
 The effluent is soaked into the surrounding soil
On-site disposal systems cannot be
installed in all situations
 in areas that flood regularly
 inareas that have a high water table where the
underground water is close to the surface
 where the amount of wastewater to be disposed of is large
 near to drinking water supplies
Effluent (wastewater) disposal system

 Disposes of the effluent from a community at a central

place usually called a sewage lagoon or effluent pond
 The sewage can be treated:
 in a septic tank at each building
 justbefore the lagoon in a large septic tank or macerator
system
 in the lagoon itself
Effluent (wastewater) disposal system

 Effluent from the community is carried by large pipes to

the lagoon
 These
pipes serve all the houses and other buildings in the
community
 The sewage may be either be treated in septic tanks at the
houses or buildings or at the lagoon
 There are no leach or French drains
Full sewage system

 All the sewage from the toilet, shower, laundry and other
areas enters waste and sewer pipes directly and is pumped
to a lagoon
Three types of full sewage system:

 The sewage enters the lagoon without treatment

 Thesewage goes through a series of cutting blades which
help break up the solid matter before it enters the lagoon.
These blades are called macerators
 Thesewage may be treated in a large septic tank just
before it enters the lagoon