Access to clean water for drinking, water for cleaning, sanitary living and working conditions and sanitary latrines play a large role in the success of education (Buzarwa, 2012). Both teachers and children benefit when clean water is accessible. When teacher's do not have good living and working conditions they may become ill and will be more likely to be absent from work (Tao, 2013).

To have clean water is important so that you don’t get diseases. For example, I got typhoid two weeks ago. I am lucky that I went to see the doctor early. So you can see, this water that we are drinking is not safe. We just take it from the tank and drink it. And to have a good toilet is important too. If not, you will get diseases like cholera or worms.  - A Teacher in Tanzania commenting on the issues of clean water in Tanzania (Tao, 2013)

WASH Mapping (Buzara, 2012), and Water Point Mapping (WPM) (Lemoyan, 2008) are techniques for monitoring the distribution of water supplies. By locating water sources, project planning and urban (community) planning can be done in a more effective way to ensure people within communities are able to access water. According to UNICEF, a school has adequate sanitation and water facilities when it has hardware & software that supports a healthy environment and good hygiene behaviors; including but not limited to: clean drinking water, hand washing stations and safe toilets. Close to 90% of schools in the Longido District do not meet these requirements, having an "open defecation" system in place instead (Lemoyan, 2008).

Finding good place for sanitation stations (toilets and hand washing stations) includes taking "location, sitting, distance from the targeted audience and functionality status" into consideration. WASH mapping showed that facilities are better within and near townships/more urban areas and are generally poorer in more rural areas (Buzarwa, 2012).

 According to Water Aid there are several key factors that are missing from the situation that have led to the poor water and sanitation situation:

• In order to find an appropriate entry point for the project there must be understanding of the dynamics of pastoralist systems and how that influences sanitation and hygiene practices.
• Awareness must be raised about the importance of adopting good practices
• Access to water should be emphasized as a prerequisite for adopting certain hygiene and sanitation practices
• There must be an understanding of the engineering challenges during construction AND the management of waste (Lemoyan, 2008).

There are some solutions for water sanitation in existence.  One novel technique called Biosanitizer, attempts to convert polluted water to clean water + useable organic materials through natural denitrification process. It is typically more effective and environmentally friendly than typical chemical sanitation processes. The biosanitizer agent combines nitrates with CO2 and waste heat to produce organics and oxygen. This method has been applied in sewage treatment at the Taj Hotel in Madurai, India, and in many other areas and situations around the world (Bhawalkar, n.d.).

Why This is Important:

When considering how to design water collection systems, it is also important for us to consider how sanitation comes into play.


 

Resources:

Lemoyan, J.S. (2008)Demystifying Sanitation – Challenges and Prospects of Sanitation Service Delivery among the Pastoralist Communities in Longido District. Portfolio Team North. Retrieved on October 1, 2014 from: http://emjee.biz/resources/DemystifyingSanitation.pdf

Bhawalkar, U.S. (n.d.) Biosanitizer: A resource for Ecosanitation. Waste to Health. Retrieved on October 1, 2014 from: http://www.wastetohealth.com/biosanitizer_ecosanitation_resource.html