In order to ensure that all South Africans are provided with access to adequate sanitation within the constraints of limited national resources, policies currently being considered by the South African government envisage a significant amount of on-site s
Title | A strategy for evaluating the environmental impact of on-site sanitation systems |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 1997 |
Authors | van Ryneveld, MB, Fourie, AB |
Pagination | p. 279-291 : 4 fig., 8 tab. |
Date Published | 1997-04-01 |
Keywords | bacteria, chemical quality, groundwater pollution, guidelines, health hazards, impact assessment, literature reviews, microbiological quality, nitrates, on-site disposal, sdisan, site selection, south africa, urban areas, viruses |
Abstract | In order to ensure that all South Africans are provided with access to adequate sanitation within the constraints of limited national resources, policies currently being considered by the South African government envisage a significant amount of on-site sanitation in use in the urban areas of the country for the foreseeable future. However, concerns exist that widespread use of these systems will cause subsurface migration of contaminants which may have adverse impacts on human health and on the natural environment. This paper provides an overview of the problem, reviews existing guidelines and presents a more rigorous strategy for evaluating the impact of on-site sanitation on human health and the natural environment.
The suggested strategy, which permits account to be taken of a multitude of variables encountered, is as follows: The establishment of a set of general principles for compliance requirements together with the application of these principles to the different water bodies (both surface water and groundwater) in South Africa is the most urgent requirement for the implementation of the above strategy. It is also suggested that evaluation of environmental impact of sanitation systems should not be confined to on-site sanitation alone, but should be extended to all forms of sanitation system, including water-borne sanitation systems as well. |
Notes | 56 ref. |
Custom 1 | 244, 320 |