Indian sanitation systems – squat toilets

Akhil Anand

Indian sanitation systems – Its comparison with western style toilets and the benefits of using it

Contents

1. Review
2. About an Indian style squat toilet
3. Design of an Indian style toilets
4. Benefits of using Indian style toilets
   Environmental Benefits
   Health benefits
5. Recommendation and Conclusion
6. References

List of Tables and Figures

Table 1: European countries, their population, and percentage of the population having indoor toilets.
Figure 1: Column chart representing the percentage of the population using indoor toilets in their respective European countries.
Figure 2: Pictural representation of common Indian-style squat toilets found in Indian households.
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of a common Indian-style squat toilet.

1.    Review

Uncovering the facts about water usage in case of flushing of toilets, according to the residential end usage of water study, people owning a typical western-style toilet, flush their toilets an average of 5 times per day. And every flush uses an average of at least 6 L of water per flush. Considering the data from Eurostat 2019, approximately 98% of the population of the EU has access to an indoor toilet (The Water Research Foundation, 2016). The following table shows the percentage of the population in various European countries that have an indoor toilet.

Table 1: European countries, their population, and percentage of the population having indoor toilets. (Eurostat, 2019)

SL. No.	Country	Approximate Population (millions)	Percentage of population having indoor toilets (%)
1.	Austria	8.933	99.5
2.	Belgium	11.520	99.3
3.	Bulgaria	6.896	86.3
4.	Croatia	4.081	98.9
5.	Cyprus	0.890	99.5
6.	Czech Republic	10.700	99.6
7.	Denmark	5.850	99.7
8.	Estonia	1.325	95.3
9.	Finland	5.540	99.7
10.	France	67.000	99.5
11.	Germany	83.900	99.8
12.	Greece	10.370	99.7
13.	Hungary	9.634	96.9
14.	Iceland	0.368	100
15.	Ireland	5.010	99.7
16.	Italy	60.307	99.4
17.	Latvia	1.870	91.3
18.	Lithuania	2.689	90
19.	Luxemburg	0.640	99.9
20.	Malta	0.442	99.9
21.	Netherlands	17.600	99.9
22.	Norway	5.390	100
23.	Poland	37.950	98.3
24.	Portugal	10.290	99.3
25.	Romania	19.127	75.8
26.	Slovakia	5.480	98.4
27.	Slovenia	2.108	99.9
28.	Spain	47.500	99.6

Figure 1: Column chart representing the percentage of the population using indoor toilets in their respective European countries. (Eurostat, 2019)

The above table reveals that almost 749.112mil people have their own indoor toilets. Iterating the above data uncovers that approximately 22.47bil L of water is used for flushing every day in the European Union.

India (a country with 98.21% Open Defecation Free status (data.gov.in, 2019), incorporating both Indian and western-style toilets) has a population of 1.38bil. Out of which approximately 609.8mil people use Indian-style squat toilets. According to the summary by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Indian-style squat toilets use a maximum of approximately 1L to 3L of water per usage, unlike 6L in western-style toilets (indiatimes.com, 2018). Even if we consider the maximum level of usage, it reveals that 47% of Indians that use them utilize 9.14bil L of water every day (Dengel, 2015). Considering Indian-style squat toilets as a sustainable way of conserving water, introducing it in the European Union can save almost approximately 13.33bil L of water per day.

Usage of toilet paper in most western-style flush toilets can be a contradictory point to the above observations. But as we focus on the water usage in flushing and not on sanitation and maintaining hygiene, this still proves to be a problem in the case of water conservation.

2.    About an Indian style squat toilet

Unlike flush toilets, an Indian-style squat toilet is a dry toilet. In this type of toilet, the defection posture is squatting with two legs on a footrest rather than sitting on a pan. It consists of a squatting pan along with footrests at the ground level. Because anal cleansing is a norm in Indian culture, squat toilets or Indian-style toilets have been a preferred option in most Indian households. However, because it is a more traditional and old-fashioned style toilet it is slowly being replaced. Western-style toilets are now installed in houses in bigger cities in India, thus promoting higher water consumption. But according to data available, approximately 47% of the Indian population still uses Indian-style squat toilets (Dengel, 2015). Even if it’s not half of the population, it plays a mammoth role in the conservation of water and maintaining health hygiene.

3.    Design of an Indian style toilets

Indian-style squat toilets are generally made up of ceramic, but in some cases, it is also manufactured using stainless steel for trains and sometimes using fiberglass. In areas with lower economic potential, it is generally made up of wood with a coating of linoleum, ferrocement, concrete, and plastic in rare cases (sswm, 2014) (Brian Reed, 2011). The design is simple and includes three parts, the squatting pan, the leg rests, and the drain hole. These three parts are designed and manufactured as a single unit. The approximate dimensions of length, width, and height are 50cm, 40cm, and 16cm respectively with a depth of 26cm of the

squat pan inclined at an angle of 36.77°. Following is the illustration of an ideal Indian-style toilet.

4.    Benefits of using Indian style toilets

i.                    Environmental Benefits

Despite the most important and enormous benefit, i.e., conservation of water, Using Indian-style squat toilets has other numerous benefits too. A few of them are as follows:

1. Less or no usage of plastic for manufacturing.
2. Less usage of the material for construction means reducing carbon footprint.
3. Less water usage leads to less investment of capital, energy, and time for water treatment.
4. Lesser chances of breakage because it is fitted to the ground and hence can be used in public toilets.
5. Less usage of toilet paper

ii.                    Health benefits

Because of the design Indian toilets can have many more health benefits than we can imagine. Some of the major ones are as follows.

1. Offers a better and more neutral position than western-style flush toilets.
2. Decrease in cases related to diseases like constipation, hemorrhoids, and other rectal diseases (NPR, 2012) (Lametti, 2010).
3. Because there is no direct contact of the human body with the seat, it is more hygienic.
4. Increases flexibility, strength, and balance in the human body.
5. Lowering and rising motion on a daily basis also increases the blood flow in the human body thus reducing the chances of cardiac problems to some extent.

5.    Recommendation and Conclusion

Despite all the benefits, using Indian-style squat toilets can have drawbacks too. Some of them are: it is disadvantageous for people suffering from muscular and skeletal diseases.

Similarly, people with disabilities, overweight people, and elderly people can also find it difficult to use. But considering the number of healthy population and people in the above-mentioned categories (NPR, 2012) (Lametti, 2010), it still proves to be more efficient. However, it is really important to consider the exact dimension while manufacturing an Indian-style toilet because any changes in the dimension can lead to splatters on human skin which is unhygienic (Lametti, 2010). Also, the standing surfaces should be cleaned thoroughly so as to prevent the transmission of diseases.

The impact of conservation has been studied extensively. However, the methods and technologies to practically achieve it are still in development. Implementation of Indian-style squat toilets can be considered an effective method. It is because of the higher health and environmental benefits; that it can outperform a western-style flush toilet. There are various other counter benefits of using a western-style flush toilet over an Indian-style squat toilet, but if we address conservation of water as a problem, ignoring the social and cultural hesitation, then probably implementation of Indian-style squat toilets can be a successful leap.

6.    References

1. (2018, 01 13). Retrieved from indiatimes.com: https://www.indiatimes.com/culture/this-hands-free- made-in-india-toilet-uses-75-less-water-and-saves-rs-2-lakh-a-year-337613.html
2. (2019, 09 27). Retrieved from data.gov.in: https://data.gov.in/resources/stateut-wise-percentage- rural-households-which-have-access-toilets-facilities-12122018
3. Brian Reed, R. S. (2011). wedc. Retrieved from https://wedc- knowledge.lboro.ac.uk/resources/booklets/G005-Latrine-slabs-online.pdf
4. Dengel, L. (2015, 05 02). SuSanA website. Retrieved from https://forum.susana.org/141-other-types- of-toilets-and-sanitation-systems/12901-please-help-me-with-a-global-survey-how- common-are-squatting-toilets-in-your-country
5. Enterprises, G. (n.d.). Glint White Indian toilet. Rajasthan.
6. eurostat. (2019, November 19). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products- eurostat-news/-/edn-20201118-1
7. Lametti, D. (2010, August 26). Retrieved from SLATE: https://slate.com/technology/2010/08/how- bathroom-posture-affects-your-health.html
8. lrkl;`. (2002, December 01). Retrieved from www.fdijfoi.com
9. npr. (2012, September 28). Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/health- shots/2012/09/20/161501413/for-best-toilet-health-squat-or- sit?t=1606903890969&t=1648769973485
10. sswm. (2014). Retrieved from https://sswm.info/perspective/sanitation-systems-perspective
11. The Water Research Foundation. (2016, July 04). Retrieved from https://www.waterrf.org/research/projects/residential-end-uses-water-version-2