Table Of ContentEnvironmental Health Engineering
in the Tropics
This fully updated third edition of the classic text, widely cited as the most
important and useful book for health engineering and disease prevention,
describes infectious diseases in tropical and developing countries, and the
measures that may be used effectively against them.
The infections described include the diarrhoeal diseases, the common gut
worms, Guinea worm, schistosomiasis, malaria, Bancroftian filariasis and other
mosquito- borne infections. The environmental interventions that receive
most attention are domestic water supplies and improved excreta disposal.
Appropriate technology for these interventions, and also their impact on infec-
tious diseases, are documented in detail.
This third edition includes new sections on arsenic in groundwater supplies
and arsenic removal technologies, and new material in most chapters, including
water supplies in developing countries and surface water drainage.
Sandy Cairncross is Professor of Environmental Health at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He has worked as a water
and sanitation engineer for the Governments of Lesotho and Mozambique,
set up Guinea worm eradication programmes in West Africa with UNICEF
and the World Health Organization (WHO), served on the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and for nine years on the board of WaterAid
and provided technical advice on water and environmental health to the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) and other agencies.
Sir Richard Feachem is Director of the Global Health Group at the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), USA, and Professor of Global
Health at both UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He is
also a Visiting Professor at London University, UK, and an Honorary Professor
at the University of Queensland, Australia. From 2002 to 2007, Sir Richard
served as founding Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB
and Malaria, and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. From 1995
to 1999, Dr Feachem was Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at
the World Bank. Previously (from 1989 to 1995), he was Dean of the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
Earthscan Water Text series
For more information about this series, please visit: https:// www.routledge.
com/ Earthscan- Water- Text/ book- series/ ECEWT
Contesting Hidden Waters
Conflict Resolution for Groundwater and Aquifers
W. Todd Jarvis
Key Concepts in Water Resource Management
A Review and Critical Evaluation
Edited by Jonathan Lautze
Reconnecting People and Water
Public Engagement and Sustainable Urban Water Management
Liz Sharp
The International Law of Transboundary Groundwater Resources
Gabriel Eckstein
Water Governance and Collective Action
Multi- scale challenges
Edited by Diana Suhardiman, Alan Nicol and Everisto Mapedza
Water Stewardship and Business Value
Creating Abundance from Scarcity
William Sarni and David Grant
Equality in Water and Sanitation Services
Edited by Oliver Cumming and Thomas Slaymaker
Environmental Health Engineering in the Tropics
Water, Sanitation and Disease Control
Sandy Cairncross and Sir Richard Feachem
Environmental Health
Engineering in the Tropics
Water, Sanitation and Disease Control
Third edition
Sandy Cairncross and
Sir Richard Feachem
Third edition published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Sandy Cairncross and Richard Feachem
The right of Sandy Cairncross and Richard Feachem to be identified as authors of
this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1983
Second edition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1993
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Cairncross, Sandy, author. | Feachem, Richard G., 1947– author.
Title: Environmental health engineering in the tropics : water, sanitation
and disease control / Sandy Cairncross and Sir Richard Feachem.
Description: Third edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018013633 | ISBN 9781844071906 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781844071913 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315883946 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sanitary engineering–Tropical conditions. |
Sanitary engineering–Developing countries.
Classification: LCC TD126.5 .C35 2018 | DDC 628.0913–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013633
ISBN: 978- 1- 84407- 190- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 84407- 191- 3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 315- 88394- 6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Out of House Publishing
Contents
Preface to the first edition: environmental health engineering
and poverty xi
Preface to the second edition xiii
Preface to the third edition xiv
Acknowledgements xv
PART I
Health and pollution 1
1 Engineering and infectious disease 3
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Water- related infections 4
1.3 Excreta- related infections 11
1.4 Refuse- related infections 18
1.5 Housing- related infections 21
1.6 Public and domestic domains 22
1.7 Summary 24
2 Health and water chemistry 27
2.1 Introduction 27
2.2 The absence of necessary chemicals 27
2.3 Harmful organics 29
2.4 Harmful inorganics 31
3 Water quality and standards 36
3.1 Drinking water quality 36
3.2 Wastewater quality 46
3.3 Industrial wastes 49
3.4 Bathing water quality 50
vi Contents
3.5 Irrigation water quality 51
3.6 Water quality and fish 52
3.7 Water quality standards and QMRA 52
PART II
Water supply 59
4 Water supplies in low and middle income countries 61
4.1 The haves and have nots 61
4.2 Operation and maintenance 63
4.3 Appropriate technology 64
4.4 Benefits 66
4.5 Cost recovery and the private sector 69
4.6 Rural supplies and self- help 71
4.7 Self- supply 72
4.8 Hygiene promotion 73
4.9 Evaluation 76
4.10 Climate change and integrated water resource management 78
5 Rural water supply 83
5.1 Breakdowns and technology 83
5.2 Sources of water 84
5.3 Raising water 92
5.4 Storage 101
5.5 Treatment in a rural context 102
5.6 Water distribution 107
6 Urban water supply and water treatment 112
6.1 Introduction 112
6.2 Coagulation and sedimentation 113
6.3 Filtration 116
6.4 Disinfection 118
6.5 Distribution 124
6.6 Water demand management 129
PART III
Excreta and refuse: treatment, disposal and re- use 135
7 Excreta disposal in low and middle income countries 137
7.1 The haves and have nots 137
Contents vii
7.2 The evolving agenda of sanitation for the poor 137
7.3 Cities and the need for hygienic management of faecal sludge 140
7.4 Relative costs of sanitation systems 140
8 Types of excreta disposal system 145
8.1 Introduction 145
8.2 Pit latrines 145
8.3 VIP latrines 148
8.4 Difficulties with pit latrines 154
8.5 Pour- flush toilets 159
8.6 Vault toilets and cartage 163
8.7 Septic tanks 164
8.8 Small- bore sewers 166
8.9 Other systems 168
8.10 Communal latrines 171
8.11 Soil conditions 171
8.12 Soakaway designs 174
8.13 Personal hygiene 175
8.14 Sullage disposal 177
8.15 Nightsoil and sludge re- use and disposal 177
8.16 Water availability 180
9 Planning a sanitation programme 183
9.1 Programme context and content 183
9.2 Sanitation marketing 186
9.3 Choice of system 191
9.4 Social factors 192
9.5 Costs 197
9.6 Operation and maintenance 200
9.7 Incremental sanitation 200
10 Wastewater treatment 205
10.1 Introduction 205
10.2 Waste characteristics 205
10.3 Waste stabilisation ponds 206
10.4 Aerated lagoons 217
10.5 Oxidation ditches 218
10.6 Pathogen removal 219
10.7 Sewage workers’ health 220
viii Contents
11 Surface water drainage 222
11.1 Introduction 222
11.2 Town planning implications 224
11.3 Technical aspects 225
11.4 Institutional aspects 229
12 Solid waste management 233
12.1 Introduction 233
12.2 Waste characteristics 233
12.3 Hazards of refuse mismanagement 235
12.4 Storage and collection 235
12.5 Treatment and disposal 237
13 Composting 242
13.1 Aerobic and anaerobic composting 242
13.2 Techniques 243
13.3 Carbon/ nitrogen ratio 246
13.4 Problems of composting 248
13.5 Individual composting toilets 249
14 Health aspects of waste use 251
14.1 Introduction 251
14.2 Health and agricultural use 251
14.3 Health and fish farming 256
PART IV
Environmental modifications
and vector- borne diseases 261
15 Engineering control of insect- borne diseases 263
15.1 Introduction 263
15.2 Mosquito- borne diseases 263
15.3 Fly- borne diseases 278
15.4 Chagas disease and bugs 283
15.5 Lice, fleas, ticks and mites 285
15.6 Conclusions 286
16 Dams, irrigation and health 289
16.1 General considerations 289
16.2 Onchocerciasis 293
Contents ix
16.3 Malaria 294
16.4 Arboviral infections 295
16.5 Bancroftian and Malayan filariasis 295
16.6 Spillways and reservoir release policies 297
17 Schistosomiasis 302
17.1 Introduction 302
17.2 Water supply and sanitation 306
17.3 Schistosome removal from water and wastes 308
17.4 Specific engineering and environmental methods in
schistosomiasis control 310
Appendix A: Biological classification conventions 323
Appendix B: Glossary 325
Appendix C: Checklist of water- related and excreta- related diseases 332
Appendix D: A brief primer on urban mosquito control 338
Appendix E: Units 353
Index 354
