BeckerFraserPhotos November 2011 photograph 300

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A tank for collecting waste from chemical toilets in Alice Street, Horseshoe Lake".

BeckerFraserPhotos April 2011 photograph 539

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A large septic tanks on the side of Gloucester Street which householders can use to empty their chemical toilets".

BeckerFraserPhotos October 2011 photograph 087

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Kingsford Street. Look at the number of Port-a-loos and the tanks for emptying chemical toilets in this street".

BeckerFraserPhotos December 2011 photograph 0069

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Decorated cones on the side of Kingsford Street in the Horseshoe Lake district. The cones are a cheerful contrast to the collecting tank for chemical toilets in the background".

Minimising Public Health Risk from Human Waste after a large Wellington Fa…

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The greater Wellington region, New Zealand, is highly vulnerable to large earthquakes. While attention has been paid to the consequences of earthquake damage to road, electricity and water supply networks, the consequences of wastewater network damage for public health, environmental health and habitability of homes remain largely unknown for Wellington City. The Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes have highlighted the vulnerability of sewerage systems to disruption during a disaster. Management of human waste is one of the critical components of disaster planning to reduce faecal-oral transmission of disease and exposure to disease-bearing vectors. In Canterbury and Kaikōura, emergency sanitation involved a combination of Port-a-loos, chemical toilets and backyard long-drops. While many lessons may be learned from experiences in Canterbury earthquakes, it is important to note that isolation is likely to be a much greater factor for Wellington households, compared to Christchurch, due to the potential for widespread landslides in hill suburbs affecting road access. This in turn implies that human waste may have to be managed onsite, as options such as chemical toilets and Port-a-loos rely completely on road access for delivering chemicals and collecting waste. While some progress has been made on options such as emergency composting toilets, significant knowledge gaps remain on how to safely manage waste onsite. In order to bridge these gaps, laboratory tests will be conducted through the second half of 2019 to assess the pathogen die-off rates in the composting toilet system with variables being the type of carbon bulking material and the addition of a Bokashi composting activator.

Rebekah Rogers WEMO Photograph 047

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a portaloo outside a residential property in Christchurch. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, many houses had no running water and were forced to use chemical toilets or portaloos placed along the street. There is flooding and liquefaction on the street in the foreground. Liquefaction silt has been piled on the side of the road and a road cone placed in front.