How To: Latrines in the Bush

In case you're thinking about moving to a small town in northwestern Madagascar and need to build a latrine, this post is for you.

Things to consider before beginning:

1. Are you ACTUALLY prepared to dig 10 feet into the ground?
2. How much to you really prefer defecating into a hole as opposed just popping a squat next to a banana tree?

Now that you've decided to improve the cleanliness of your surrounding water supply, here's where to begin.

Stuff you need to get to dig, including the Malagasy words and prices:

1. Shovel (la pelle a.k.a. angady), 10,000 ariary
2. Spade (ansora a.k.a. angady lahy, which means "the man shovel"), 10,000 ariary
3. Metal digging rod (barameen), 25,000 ariary
4. Bucket for dirt (seau), 3,000 ariary
5. Strong rope for the bucket (tady), 2,000 ariary
6. Gloves (gant), you will get blisters even with these unfortunately
7. Friends to help (namana), 2,000 ariary per beer (yes, paying people in beer is a universally understood custom)

Step 1: Mark your territory.  Measure out a 1 meter square area and remove the loose topsoil

Step 2: Go for it. Dig the rest of the way, 3 meters deep.  The best digging method is actually to dig in levels. If you start digging by making a ~6-inch deep depression in one corner of your pit using the digging rod the remainder of the 6-inch deep level will be much easier to dig.  Essentially, since the ground is just compacted dirt on top of more compacted dirt, once you get past the topsoil, you're in for a workout.  But, if you make the initial effort of digging a deep starting depression, you can then chip away at the edges of that depression, continuing to widen it until it reaches the walls of your meter square pit.  In this way, you also break up the digging process into levels, which is great for people who work best with clear goals.  There were many times when I told myself, "OK, I'll finish this level and then I'll be done for the day."

Step 3: Make sure you don't fall in, a.k.a. cover the pit with wood.  A good way to do this is to use thick tree branches as the bottom beams, then cover these with ravinala (type of local plant) panels.

Step 4: Don't trust the wood to never get eaten through by termites: cover the wood with concrete.  Cut 8mm rebar and assemble a gridded support over the wooden panels.  Then, prepare the concrete by mixing 2 parts sand, 1 part gravel, and 1 part cement with water.  You will need to purchase the rebar and cement from a nearby larger town.  The sand can be taken from dry river beds.  I biked this back to my site in multiple trips using large sacks, but I recommend using an ox cart if you can.  Biking on a national highway with semi-trucks whizzing past you while you're try to steer a 100 pound load on your bike rack is not the most enjoyable experience.  The gravel can be stolen for potholes in the road (seriously, the road is partially bad due to people making it worse by TAKING IT!).  If you are building a pour flush latrine and/or one with a vent pipe, make sure to add the PVC before your concrete solidifies. 

Step 5: Build the frame and foundation for the latrine.  I ordered wood from a neighbor who frequently goes into the forest to cut down trees for timber (don't worry, the real threat of deforestation is slash and burn, not people building latrines).  The Malagasy way of local construction uses a lock and key type approach.  As opposed to nailing wood together, you can create notches that fit within each other and lock together.  The foundation is simply dirt piled together in a box easily made using some old two-by-fours.

Step 6: Don't get rained on: add the roofing.  Local houses use dried leaves as roofing shingles.  The process for roofing a latrine is fairly simple to learn and can be done in a couple hours.  The shingles are attached to the frame by tying twine (made from local plants) through the leaves around the frame.

Step 7: Make it easy on yourself so you don't miss: add cement on top of the foundation and construct the "toilet."  Concrete can be added directly on top of the foundation after mixing.  The "toilet" can be built by covering bricks in concrete and making a concrete slope for the flushing water and waste down the PVC piping.

Step 8:  Give yourself some privacy: attach the walls.  Walls can be made from the locally available panels.  These panels should be cut to fit to the size of your latrine.  They can be attached by nailing them into the frame of the latrine as well as tying them to key points along the frame.

Step 9: Add the door.  A cheap way to build a door for the latrine is to frame the same panels as used for the wall into a door.  This can then be nailed to the posts in the latrine's frame through hinges that can be purchased at your local market.

Step 10: Make sure your latrine won't smell, aka add the vent pipe.  By adding a vent pipe, the stench of your latrine will not keep you from using your latrine.  The vent pipe directs airflow away from the latrine and keeps flies out as well with a proper mesh screen placed at the outlet.  I secured the vent pipe shown below by adding nails to the PVC at the base of the pipe and then covering those with cement.

Step 11: Transform your archaic latrine into a "poo palace."  After a lot of hard work, it is only natural to go the extra mile to really make your latrine comfortable.  So, I added a toilet paper spool rack, a shelf for reading material, and a hand-washing station inside the latrine for ultimate luxury.

That's it.  It was a great experience constructing the latrine with friends and part of my Peace Corps experience that I won't soon forget.