Investigation On Water And Environmental Hygiene In Sichuan After Earthquake

Objectives:The study objective is to know the current status of water and sanitation in villages and schools during reconstruction after the2008earthquake in Sichuan and find out the existing problems through the survey so as to provide scientific evidence for carrying out water and sanitation reconstruction after earthquake. Methods:According to the geographic and reconstruction conditions,3counties out of the10ones with severe quake impact in Sichuan has been selected to carrying out the survey by questionnaire, interviews and lab test and analyses. Related management staff members, family members and students in27counties and9schools of the3selected counties have been covered by the survey. The main contents of the survey include the water supply, drinking water quality, latrine and excreta disposal, waste water discharge and treatment, maintenance and management of above-mentioned water supply and sanitation facilities in surveyed villages, households and schools as well as the health behaviors of the villagers and the students. Results:(1). The coverage of centralized water supply in the27counties of the selected3counties is36.05%, including the2modes of household connection and public tap; Of the centralized village water supplies,31.58%can meet the need of the villagers,47.37%have rules for water supply management, and84.21%have management point-persons. The decentralized water supplies mainly refer to wells, then spring water and the combination of both;(2). Villagers’satisfaction to water supply is100%for river water,90.46%for well water89.22%for tap water and75.40%for spring water which is the lowest; the time for taking water from wells and spring are90.81%and84.13%respectively within10minutes.(3). The rate of water meeting the water quality standards is81.25%for tap water,66.67%for well water and60%for spring water. Tap water is disinfected, but the chlorine residual is56.25%meeting the standards value. No disinfection is found in decentralized water supply facilities.(4).2/3of the9school adopt the centralized water supply system by civil administration, among which water supply in4schools can not satisfy the need;3school use self-prepared wells and can meet the need.(5). There are water supply management staff in all9schools, but there is no full records on water quality monitoring and equipment overhaul. The rate of water meeting the quality standard is for water from wells and tap.(6). The coverage rate of sanitary latrine is16.99%, and2.46%of the households has no latrines of any kind; the non-sanitary latrines mainly include non-seeping pit and simple water flush latrines; excreta is mainly used directly as fertilizer.(7). The school latrines are all complete flush latrines; among which58.12%has management staff, and62.39%of the latrines have been kept clean.(8). There are all166garbage collection and treatment facilities in22villages, mainly garbage cans/bins; yet there is no such facilities in5villages. The main method for garbage treatment is filling, or secondly burning. Among the9schools,8have garbage collection facilities.(9).86.80%of the households have garbage bin or bag or such collection facilities, but23.44%of the garbage was discharge randomly or into the river.76.87%of the households can clean the garbage every day. The garbage in schools are treated or burned uniformly by city sanitation department.(10). The waste water is discharged separately in20villages, and is discharged through treatment and drainage system in7villages. The household waste water is discharged mainly through pipelines, open or hidden channels, and9.62%of the household waste water is discharged randomly.(11). Household sanitation is good, poor courtyard, living room and kitchen sanitation is less then10%.(12). The rate of washing with soap at home is40.43%, and the rate of drinking unboiled water is74.21%; for the students, only25.64%wash their hands with soap, and83.33%do no drink unboiled water. Conclusion:1). The coverage rate of tap water is low, the quantity of water supply in some villages and schools is not sufficient, and water supply systems are not managed and maintained effectively. The decentralized water supply facilities are convenient for taking water, but the water is basically not treated. The drinking water quality is not ensured, the rate of drinking water meeting standards value is still to be improved.(2). The coverage rate of household sanitary latrine is low; for the non-sanitary latrines, non-seeping latrines and simple flush latrine prevail; excreta is not effectively treatment but applied to land directly. The schools latrines are all sanitary ones, but management rules are not completely in place and there is a lack of management staff.(3). Most villages and schools are equipped with garbage collection facilities. The garbage in villages is mainly treated by filling, while garbage in schools is mainly treated uniformly by sanitation department. There are still some villages with no centralized garbage collection facilities; household garbage is mainly collected with garbage bins or garbage bags; more than20%of household garbage is littered randomly.(4). Most of village waste water is discharged separately, with no centralized waste water collection system or treatment system.(5). The rate of villagers and students washing hands with soap is low, and some villagers and students have kept the habit of drinking unboiled water.