In any type of emergency situation waste disposal is a major factor in secondary threat creation. I will provide a long term solution to waste disposal, first I will explain some terms.
Yuck
Black water is water mixed with human waste, e.i poo. Making treating this type of water is much more difficult. Reuse can only happen after treatment and unless stored it will have adverse effects on health.
This water is cleaner than black water and in some cases can be reused without treatment. We need to make a distinction between domestic and industrial grey water.
Domestic grey water can be used to water plants, even if it does have some detergent mixed in whereas Industrial grey water will have a lot more chemicals mixed in and will need filtering before it can be used.
A number of terms are used, a biofilm is a film of bacteria that are connected. It helps to decompose the waste but also blocks the flow. A bioreactor is a term to describe a system where organisms generate energy from the waste.
Many types of filters exist, most consisting of rocks of various sizes these filter the waste while allowing organisms to eat away. A biofilter is a filter that uses natural biological systems to dispose of waste.
A vermifilter uses earthworms to decompose waste, they are more commonly used for grey water treatment but can also filter black water. The worms can process solid and liquid waste, the inclusion of liquid in the filter actually helps the process.
Vermifilters consist of a layer of biological material with earthworms mixed in, for example wood chips. Underneath this is the sump, which has gravel, lava rocks or sand to act as a natural filter. You can stack several vermifilters on top of one another to create multiple stages, this is very useful for black water treatment. A pump can also be used to recycle the water between stages, thus increasing efficiency.
Earthworm
I recommend this type of filter to anyone who wants to be self sufficient, although you will have to remove the worm castings (humus) occasionally. Combine a three stage vermifilter with a drainage field and you should be good to go.
In a pandemic scenario waste treatment is something that needs to be considered, especially as local sanitation workers will be overwhelmed with bodies. Also the amount of antibiotics that will be added to the system from peoples waste, can also overwhelm sanitation systems.
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