Bucket toilet

A bucket toilet, also called a honey bucket or bucket latrine, is a very simple, basic form of a dry toilet which is portable. The bucket (pail) may be situated inside a dwelling, or in a nearby small structure (an outhouse), or on a camping site or other place that lack waste disposal plumbing. These toilets used to be common in cold climates, where installing running water can be difficult, expensive, and subject to freezing-related pipe breakage.

The bucket toilet may carry significant health risks compared to an improved sanitation system. In regions where people do not have access to improved sanitation – particularly in low-income urban areas of developing countries – a bucket toilet might sometimes be an improvement compared to pit latrines or open defecation. They are often used as a temporary measure in emergencies.

More sophisticated versions consist of a bucket under a wooden frame supporting a toilet seat and lid, possibly lined with a plastic bag, but many are simply a large bucket without a bag. Newspaper, cardboard, straw, sawdust or other absorbent materials are often layered into the bucket toilet.

Bucket toilets are used in households and even in health care facilities in some developing countries where people do not have access to improved sanitation.

In those settings, bucket toilets are more likely to be used without a plastic bag, or the bag is not removed each time the bucket is emptied. This is because the users cannot afford to regularly discard suitably sized, sturdy plastic bags. Instead, the users may place some dry material in the base of the bucket (newspaper, sawdust, leaves, straw or similar) in order to facilitate easier emptying.

Bucket toilets have been historically common in cold climates where installing running water can be difficult and expensive and subject to freezing-related pipe breakage, for example in Alaska and rural areas of Canada.

In natural disasters and other emergencies, the portability of bucket latrines can make them a useful part of an appropriate emergency response, especially where pit latrines cannot be isolated from floodwater or groundwater (potentially leading to groundwater pollution) and where the contents can be safely disposed into sanitary systems, taking measures to avoid contact with the contents. Different organizations give advice on how to build bucket toilets in case of emergency. The Twin Bucket Emergency Toilet system (a two bucket system), for example, has been developed in Christchurch, New Zealand following their infrastructure destroying earthquake in 2011. The system has been endorsed by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management. It is promoted by the volunteer advocacy group PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human) for reasons of safety, affordability and matching ecological sanitation principles.

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Wikipedia