Water and sanitation : towards a healthy family

The new Government of South Africa through its Reconstruction and Development Programme has recognized the link between the provision of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities and the potential positive impact thereof on the health status of the individual, families and communities through improved personal and environmental hygiene practices. In order to improve the quality of life of previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the Department of Health have compiled this information guideline aimed at providing people in rural communities with the information critical to ensure that their health status can be improved. The guideline seeks to help people understand the link between clean water, hygienic sanitation practices and health. In the section on water, the guideline explains how to protect a community's water resources and includes information on groundwater, boreholes, springs, how to keep the well water supply clean, and how to conserve water. The section on sanitation, emphasizing that sanitation is not only the building and using of toilets, stresses the maintenance of sanitary conditions through proper cleaning and maintenance of toilets, the effective removal and disposal of household waste, effective effluent disposal, handwashing, and the protection of drinking water from faecal contamination in the home and at the source. In discussing health, the guideline outlines ways of improving personal, household, community and environmental hygiene and gives tips on preventing disease in the community. A glossary of pertinent terms accompanies each section. The formulation of the text and the design of the illustrations aim at accessibility to all people and general acceptance of the publication which is to be distributed through schools and clinics.