of 'coarse rubble in the first, and up through one foot 3 inches of coarse rubble and 2 feet 3 inches of fine ashes in the second. It then passes into another pit through a pipe with a rose spray. This second pit is 2 feet 6 inches deep with a slight fall to the outlet pipe leading to the pond or ditch. The effluent falls in a spray on to a tray of perforated tin resting on a final filter bed, composed of 6 inches of sand over 3 inches of broken brick— the outlet pipe being protected by a small catch pit made of loose bricks covered with tin. <Callout type="tip" title="Efficient Filtration">The use of multiple layers ensures effective filtration and protection against contamination.</Callout> Having removed the fats disposal of the effluent is usually not difficult. In geological formations where clay exists it may be in "pockets" with intervening porous material, and the porous interspaces can be found by trial pits. If there be a continuous clay layer, sullage cannot be absorbed and the site is so damp and cold that it is not suitable for camping purposes. If this effluent is cleared of soap and oil and the soil absorbent, the sullage may be disposed of either by soakage pits or broad irrigation. The former are similar to those just described for the El Paso District. They may be smaller — one for each company. <Callout type="warning" title="Avoiding Contamination">Soakage pits must be properly maintained and cleaned to prevent contamination.</Callout> The method of disposal by broad irrigation is applicable to sloping surfaces which may either allow the liquid to soak into the soil or drain down the surface into a ditch. If the liquid be allowed to soak into the soil parallel ditches should be dug along the contours and the fluid allowed to fill them successively. The ground should be divided into areas which should be used for a day and then allowed to dry for a day or more, when the soil lining the ditches should be turned and loosened preparatory to being used again. When water is piped into camp ablution water is drawn from a faucet. The practice of providing a rock filled soakage pit near a faucet is disapproved by Lewis and Miller as organic refuse is often thrown on it, and ffles soon begin to breed in the moist, polluted soil on the sides of the pit. They advise that the drip be arrested by one large flat stone and led away into the open ditch, after passing through soakage pits, as indicated in the diagram. <Callout type="important" title="Proper Ablution">Adequate water supply is crucial for maintaining hygiene and preventing disease.</Callout> Each division should be provided with two baths each capable of caring for 80 bathers an hour, and two trucks carrying disinfecting apparatus. Laundry. — Laundries employing Hospital Ward tents may be erected as near the front as possible. They should have concrete floors, with shallow drainage runnels, which lead into a series of settling tanks filled three-fourths with coke. The water flows from one tank to the other over or under an incomplete partition. The tanks should be examined daily and the effluent led into a soakage pit. Excess can be carried off by a ditch. Latrines. — Field Service Regulations require that latrines be placed at the opposite end of the company street from the company kitchens. Usually one is provided for each company, and one for CAMPS 91 the officers of each battalion. They should be dug if troops halt only for a few hours. In sites subject to inundation, they should be ditched and the edges banked. If dug in sandy soil they may have to be provided with retaining walls of timber as in the camp at Galveston in 1911 or revetted with sand-bags. In rocky soil they may have to be blasted as in the El Paso District, where each latrine pit cost $30. Latrines for very temporary use are about 4 feet long, i foot wide and I foot deep for each day's use, though provision of 2 feet would be better. The men using these trenches straddle them so that both urine and feces are discharged into the pit. This method of use is much better than that of squatting on the edge of the pit, which results in the ground under foot soon becoming soiled and muddy with urine which is tracked into camp. These pits in many respects are much more desirable than the large ones, unless these be protected by boxes, provided for fixed and semi-fixed camps. Each man using an open trench should cover his deposit with earth thrown into the pit from a tin can and not kicked in carelessly with the foot. A short, uncovered straddle trench accommodates one person at a time. They should provide for 33 per cent, of the unit for one day's stay or 20 per cent, for a longer camp. The frontage in feet is one-fifth of the total strength. The width of the latrine area of a company is 4 feet for each two days' stay. These pits should be filled in when filled to within one foot of the surface, covered with puddled clay and marked. An improvement on the short, open straddle trench is provided by the Lucas top which will permit three men to use the trench at once, and which renders it fly proof. This top may be made of wood or sheet iron. The straddle trench is undoubtedly superior to the long deep pit for temporary camps, but has never been popular in the American service. The pit usually employed for permanent or semi-permanent camps is 3 feet wide at the top and 2 feet at bottom and 8, or better, 10 feet deep. Its length depends on the size of the com- mand it is to serve. From 5 to 8 per cent, of the command should be accommodated at one time, and 2 feet of linear space allowed to each man. As usually constructed in the field, where box seats arc FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION §TnocA i Maltrial rough pine. The Z'X4'iobt dwell nailtdto fhtlOYide foot boards. Ina&tthe Aot hoards are ktpt covered with dirt. Withone foot on each board the movemtntoffeet deposits this dirt on ^ faecal matter in frendi. Cost lAoatf 6^ ^2 Sintafcr^aateriol. Fig. 74- — Lucas' straddle trench cover. CAMPS 93 not obtainable, the pit b slightly (i foot) wider at top than al bottom and is provided with a seat. This is a long pole or sapling resting on forked sticks or curved logs about 3 feet beyond the ends of the pit. Each man is required to cover his deposit with earth. The latrine is surrounded with brush, or a canvas or burlap screen, and covered with a tent fly or other suitable material. The Havard box is thus described by its inventor, "The latrine box is 10 feet 6 inches long, :6 inches high and ,; feci S inches widt 1 at bottom so as to safely cover a pit 3 feet wide. The sides or walls have an inward slant of 4 inches and are locked together by the end pieces and two traverses. The lop consists of two longitudinal halves, simply laid on and kept from slipping by blocks; each 21 inches wide, projecting 2 inches beyond the side, and perforated by three holes which alternate with those of the other half. Each hole, II inches long, is covered with a strong hinged lid which can only be raised to an angle of 45 degrees, so that it is self closing and prevents standing on the edge of the box. 94 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION Each box consists of eight pieces perfectly interchangeable with* those of any other bos, and weighs 175 pounds. It can be put j together without screw, bolt or hook, or taken apart, by one ( men in a few minutis. To ili-inFcil Hn- |>i(. the attendants lift 1 F:c. 77- — Latrina box, lid raised for treatment by oil and lamp black. This mixture is strained iminediately before use through a sieve made of two layers of wire mosquito net tacked to a square wooden frame 8 inches square and i inch deep. the half of the top nearest to the earth pile and shift it over thft other half, ihua uncovering the pit and obtaining a good view ot the contents. One pit 10 feet long covered with this box will dffv a company for a week; if the stay is to be longer, the pit should of the standard length of 20 feet and two boses used, end to end. 95 l^'or annals,' tubs, cans or boxes must be provided, one at each end, with a pipe, gutter or trench leading into the pit." An important addition are strips of tin nailed ujnder the front of each hole to deflect urine into the pit. The boxes at present provided in most permanent camps are not demountable and have the seats facing in one direction. When Fic 78. — Hop wood lati Lewis and Miller.) Columbus. [After this type is used, the cover should be hinged, to give easy access to the pit, for the boxes are heavy and unwieldy. A better box than the elongated one is Hopwood's, which is similar to Havard's except that it is not demountable, and has the seats back to back. It is greatly superior to the elongated box as it requires leas lumber and is more wieldy. g6 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION Hopwood recommends a galvanized iron can as a urinal, which is emptied into the pit each morning. Whether Havard's or Hopwood's box is used these should be provided with a sill or collar, 8 inches wide, to prevent crumbling of the edge of the pit. The box rests on this sill but is not attached to it. These boxes may be extemporized from shoeor clothing boxes, i but these makeshifts are fragile and warp readily. In such c warped lids should be padded and fringed with burlap, and cracks i or knot holes occluded by the same material. The inlets for u; ' '^^1 L I _^ 1 s Bgg ^9B^1^2 l^k 1 i^ Fig. 80.— Gartia's latrine cover. if troughs are used, should be fly proof. A fly trap should be kept i habitually over a disused seat if the pit is found to harbor flies. This | trap should fit snugly to the scat. If a pit becomes heavily I infested it should be filled with water to a depth of four inches j above deposits in order to drown iarvK. A barrel of fresh lim is then slaked in the pit. The heat thus developed destroys I larv» which may have escaped destruction by the water alone. Truby, who devised these measures advises, that if latrines be but J lightly infested they be burned out twice daily with oil. Garcia recommends that when lumber is scarce, the wooden si CAMPS 97 of the box be replaced by an adobe wall 2 feet high surrounding the pit. Special bricks measuring 6 X 18 inches are required to avoid making the wall too wide. A frame made of i X 6-inch lumber is set into the top of the wall. The cover fits into this frame. It is easily handled by two men. Other advantages are the small amount of lumber required, the chimney effect of the walls and the greater portability of the top and frame than that of the latrine box. Latrines should be inspected by a medical officer at 9 A. M. and at 4 P. M. daily. They should be inspected each two hours by an enlisted man detailed to that duty. A permanent detail should care for them. Seats should be scrubbed and urine troughs or cans should be swabbed out burnt out respectively with crude oil. All trenches should be filled in before a command moves. The practice of burning out latrine pits inaugurated by Col. Ebert has proven generally satisfactory when carefully performed. For this purpose i gallon of oil and 15 pounds of straw daily are pro- vided for each company latrine. The box should be removed during combustion and the fecal matter stirred into the fire with a pole. This incineration if thoroughly carried out with dry fuel is practically successful in making latrines fly proof. When oil and straw are not obtainable as was often the case in the Punitive Ex- pedition, the ashes from the company kitchen should be scattered in the pits. In the El Paso District the practice of burning out was discon- tinued and a mixture of lamp black or bone black in crude oil, i pound to 3 gallons, was employed. From K to i J^ gallons of this was applied by a spray pump daily and once each week or ten days the sides of the latrine were sprinkled. It is essential that the lamp or bone black be as fine as flour otherwise it will not pass through the apertures of the spray. The mixture must be stirred constantly while being pumped and sprayed, or mixed and heated and passed through a fine mesh sieve. By this method, a squad of one N. C. O. and 4 Mexicans can treat 75 latrines in 5 hours using 55 gallons of oil for this purpose. The equipment at El Paso consisted of a wagon and drum containing oil, a force pump and spray. The pump was used to spray walls only as the outlet was small and choked quickly in cold weather. At Camp Funston, for 3000 men, the spraying was done by two Mexicans, using a small hand pump 7 PiELD HYGIEKE AND SANITATION and two buckets. The mixture may be poured from a sprinkling can. Crude oil alone for tbis purpose has been suggested but its | value is much less than that of oil and lamp black. Foi proper i use of this method, tops of latrine boxes should be hinged so as to | allow free access to their interiors and to the pits. When pits are filled to within two feet of the top they should be | filled in, rounded up, marked, and covered with 4 inches of puddled I Pig. 81, — Hand-and-foot spray pump for use in applying bone black and crude oil minture in latrines. Bone or lamp black may be of any- I quality provided it is fine as flour. The mixture is strained before ui passing through a Eieve made of several layers oE metal mosquito net Several spray tips should be on hand in reserve. The necessity for properly disposing of urine is not generally appre- ciated because of its comparative inoffensiveness in small quantities, 1 One thousand men, however, void daily 300 gallons. In this num- ber of men there are certain to be some who are typhoid carriers whose urine may contain 100 million bacteria to the cubic centime- ter. Evaporation is impracticable for small units though a number of devices have been employed for that purpose. Urine cans are not always available and the congestion at the latrine after reveille is such that additional facilities should be provided. The English , service employs two trenches, 6 inches deep and 8 feet long at an | angle of 30 degrees, leading into a soakage pit. The disadvantage of this practice is that one side soon becomes fouled and that urine is tracked into camp. Lelean recommends that each regiment be supplied with two dozen nested funnels 4 feet long, 6 inches in di- CAMPS 99 ameter at one end and 2 inches at the other. In their absence tubes made of tin cans can be employed. A pit is dug and filled to near the top with broken stone, or tin cans in which many holes have been punched may be used. The funnels or the improvised tubes are inserted at a convenient height. The pit is then filled up, cov- ered with sod and roped off. The funnels are lightly plugged daily with grass to make them fly proof. A sewer system is the cheapest method of disposing of excrement in a permanent camp. This however requires a relatively large water supply which is not always obtainable. In the camp at Galveston, where a sewer was available, a limited amount of water proved adequate by using the following method. Two galvanized iron troughs, 20 feet long, and 18 inches deep were provided for each battalion. They sloped downward slightly to a common center, where a vertical chute, ordinarily closed by a padlocked plunger, descended into a manhole of the sewer^ The lower end of the plunger which entered the chute was 6 inches in diam ;ter. A cross piece through the handle prevented the plunger descending more than 2 inches into the chute. Below this point was a net made of }i-inch G. I. wire with J^-inch interstices, to act as a strainer. The troughs were filled twice daily with water to within 4 inches of the brim at the lowest point. They were emptied twice daily and flushed with a hose, fastened to the faucet from which each pair of troughs was filled. The net provided at the outlet was essential, as the sewer was emptied by a centrifugal pump and despite standing orders, obstructing matter such as old clothing, orange or banana peeling, etc., was occasionally thrown into the troughs. A better apparatus devised for a similar purpose by Major Willard F. Truby for occluding the outlet of a latrine trough con- sists of a wooden screw, 6 inches in diameter, one-fourth of whose side b cut away. This allows a space down which the overflow may pass, yet arrests large obstructions. The best device for the outlet from these troughs is similar to that provided for the modern bath tub. A screen over the outlet arrests obstructions to the pipes, an overflow hole is provided at a convenient height, and a plunger, outside the tub, controls the outlet pipe. Pollution of the camp area by
Key Takeaways
- Use multiple layers for filtration to ensure effective sewage disposal.
- Properly maintain and clean soakage pits to prevent contamination.
- Provide adequate ablution facilities with enough water supply.
- Cover latrine deposits properly to avoid soil contamination.
- Employ fly-proof methods for latrines, especially in temporary camps.
Practical Tips
- Ensure that all sanitation facilities are well-maintained and regularly inspected to prevent disease outbreaks.
- Use natural barriers like sand or broken bricks as filters to improve the quality of effluent before disposal.
- Provide sufficient urine collection devices to reduce congestion at latrines, especially during morning routines.
Warnings & Risks
- Do not use rock-filled soakage pits near faucets as they can become breeding grounds for flies and other pests.
- Avoid using makeshift materials for latrine boxes without proper sealing and maintenance.
- Properly dispose of urine to prevent the spread of bacteria, even in small quantities.
Modern Application
While many of these sanitation techniques have evolved with modern technology, the principles of effective waste management remain crucial. Understanding historical methods can provide valuable insights into creating sustainable and efficient systems for temporary or remote locations. The importance of proper hygiene cannot be overstated, as it directly impacts public health and safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the recommended method for disposing of sewage in a permanent camp according to this chapter?
A sewer system is the cheapest method of disposing of excrement in a permanent camp. However, it requires a relatively large water supply which may not always be available.
Q: How can urine collection be improved during morning routines at latrines?
Lelean recommends supplying each regiment with two dozen nested funnels 4 feet long, 6 inches in diameter at one end and 2 inches at the other. In their absence, tubes made of tin cans can be used to collect urine.
Q: What are some fly-proof methods for latrines mentioned in this chapter?
Fly traps should be kept over disused seats if pits are found to harbor flies. Additionally, filled-in latrine pits should be treated with a mixture of lamp black or bone black and crude oil.