ICE - Institution of Civil Engineers - Virtual Library

This is an historical review of the drivers behind the slow development of safe water and sanitation services that took place in Britain during the nineteenth century. Widespread social concern about the living conditions of the poor was combined with more powerful economic incentives to maintain an efficient workforce, and so public health reform was brought about through the joint forces of political reform and specific legislation. Today, the Millennium Development Goals aim to halve by 2015 the one sixth of the world's population that does not have safe water, and the one fifth that has no basic sanitation facilities. An understanding of the historical drivers for change, rather then simply ‘good will’, will help to ensure that these efforts are based on experience, rather than experiment.

Millions of dollars are being spent worldwide on the repair and maintenance of sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Microbially-induced corrosion causes damage via micro-organisms. Deterioration is caused by acid excretion which etches the surface of concrete, penetrating the mortar surface, especially in sewer systems. The mechanisms of concrete and reinforcement deterioration in sewer environments and microbially-induced corrosion is discussed in detail in this paper. A comprehensive review is given of the role of hydrogen sulphide and micro-organisms in the deterioration of concrete in sewer environments and of repair and rehabilitation measures, including the following preventative measures: (a) modification of the materials used in construction of sewer pipes; (b) coatings; (c) sewer treatments. A complete review of the microbial deterioration of concrete and its remedies is also included.

This paper describes the main features of the Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Rural Hygiene and Sanitation Project (RHSP) in Kyrgyzstan, which is being implemented in parallel with the DFID/World Bank Rural Water Supply Project. The RHSP seeks to put into practice the current thinking that the health outcomes of improved water supply will only be achieved if hygiene and sanitation are given equal attention to water supply. In many cases the health benefits will only be achieved if there is a change in behaviour. A change in behaviour does not only mean change in practical hygiene behaviour by individuals but rather a change in attitude on the part of individuals, communities and the institutions that support them. The RHSP seeks to achieve this through participatory hygiene promotion in over 200 villages, providing supporting institutions with new information and techniques for health promotion, constructing improved public sanitation facilities and training the communities themselves to monitor the water quality and condition of their water supply system.

Every hour, over 500 children die in Africa mainly due to diarrhoeal diseases. Human excreta is the principal cause of diarrhoea, which can be prevented by the installation and use of hygienic latrines, improved water supplies and hygiene practices. The number of people without access to basic sanitation facilities globally is over 2·6 billion, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The impact and public health risk of poor sanitation are more acute in urban communities as these tend to be more populated with less space to dispose of excreta and wastewater. Rapid urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa has made the task of providing sanitation even more challenging for municipal engineers and other professionals. An action research project aimed at applying a marketing approach to the promotion of household sanitation was carried out between 2002 and 2004, with a pilot project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This paper is one of three papers on sanitation marketing and discusses consumer research for the marketing of household sanitation. It outlines the process that could be used by municipal engineers, non-government organisations and others to understand the demand for sanitation in order to improve public health, particularly in low-income urban settlements. The paper concludes that understanding consumer motivations, constraints and preferences for sanitation is a key factor in increasing the demand and uptake of improved latrines.

This paper outlines the chronology and issues relating to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic in Hong Kong in 2003. It includes findings from the Sars Expert Committee established by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to review the epidemic. An overview is given of built environment related research that was proposed following the epidemic and outlines of a number of subsequent research initiatives. These initiatives include a major research project that was jointly funded by the Construction Industry Institute of Hong Kong and the Faculty of Construction and Land Use of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. These findings are reported in more detail. A perspective is given of how the epidemic has changed attitudes to a ‘healthy environment’ in Hong Kong.

The water-based appliance trap seal is viewed as a standard component within any building drainage system, and provides adequate protection from the miasma present within the network and sewer connection pipework. Suitable system design ensures that the pressure response of the system does not result in excursions from atmospheric that might jeopardise recommended retention levels. Underperformance, as a result of poor system design or maintenance, is typically characterised by the ingress of foul odour—an event that, although unpleasant, was not normally associated with any particular risk to health until the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in Hong Kong where 42 fatalities were attributed to transmission facilitated by the building drainage system. A method-of-characteristics-based numerical simulation model that draws upon system specification and operation to predict airflow, transient network pressures and trap seal retention levels, and facilitates an assessment of the factors that contributed to the transmission of the Sars virus, is presented. This paper thus highlights the suitability of unsteady flow simulations as a tool for the prediction of future risk.