john leffel - backcountry sanitation

Backcountry Sanitation

Human waste disposal in the national park service backcountry

John Leffel, NPS Office Of Public HealthPublic Health Consultant

July 2014

Back Country Sanitation - wastewater◦ Methods◦ NPS - OPH directives◦ Visitor Data 2012◦ Collection methods – 2 examples ◦ Public Health

Pathogens Human Exposure

Outline

Backcountry waste disposal

Pit toilets Barrel and fly out containers “composting toilets” Vermicomposting toilets Moldering toilets Cat holes Smear tactic Low tide drop zone – glacier bay Bag out pack out

◦ Names – wag bag, rest stop, blue bags, clean mountain can, etc…

Waterless methods

Romtec – trailside “composter”no longer manf.

The National Park Service Office of Public Health (OPH) is an internal agency-specific public health capability, managed, funded and operated by NPS.  This program is primarily staffed with commissioned officers on detail to the agency from the United States Public Health Service and is a national activity headquartered in Washington, DC with field staff located across the NPS system.

NPS - Office of Public Health

Disease surveillance and response, on-site evaluation/hazard analysis, consultation, policy guidance, coordination with local, state and other federal

health jurisdictions, Assist park superintendents to protect and promote

visitor health

NPS – OPH Activities

ManagementDirectives System Level 1 - Management Policies Level 2 - Director’s Orders (1-94) # 83 PH Level 3 - Reference Manuals, Handbooks etc..

A.1. National Park Service (NPS) Park Managers will reduce the risk of disease transmission to park visitors, partners, and staff while providing opportunities to enjoy experiences in the backcountry. These guidelines are intended for NPS partners and NPS operations to ensure minimum standards for public health are maintained in the backcountry where front country standards are not achievable.

Reference Manual 83F

Reference manual 83F A.4Human waste will be safely disposed of in an approved manner and in compliance with the requirements of the local National Park Service Unit.

Human Waste Disposal

Approved Manner

state or local jurisdiction – drinking water – typically state waste water – EPA, State, or county

Compliance with local NPS

input from the Park – appropriate and effective for that location ie grand canyon vs north cascades example…

Human waste disposal continued

One or more primitive or wilderness areas which are reached primarily by hiking, boating, or horseback

Backcountry defined

2012 DATA

Statistical Summary 2012• Total Visitation

•275,946,524 avg. per year (31 year avg)•282,765,682 in 2012•Peak of 287,130,879 in 1999.

Statistical Summary 2012• Backcountry Overnights

•2,088,249 avg. per year (31 year avg.)•1,816,907 in 2012 •0.64 % of stays in backcountry•Peak of 2,579,716 in 1983

NPS Backcountry Statistics - 2012

•102 Parks - Backcountry overnight stays•1,816,904 - Annual backcountry visitation•282,765,682 Annual NPS recreational visits

•Less than 1% (0.64%) of all overnight stays are in the backcountry

Alaska

Intermountain

Midwest

National Capital

Norhteast

Pacific West

Southeast

0 10,000,000 20,000,000 30,000,000 40,000,000 50,000,000 60,000,000 70,000,000

2012 Rec Visits by Region

Series1

  National Park Back-Country overnight %bk/ov

1 Grand Canyon 300,418 1,298,869 23%

2 Lake Mead 170,771 816,541 21%

3 Yosemite 168,783 1,731,921 10%

4 Great Smokey Mts 84,236 389,489 22%

5 Glenn Canyon 79,661 1,656,776 5%

6 Canyonlands 58,546 83,467 70%

7 Olympic 55,776 279,788 20%

8 Delawater water gap 52,002 98,702 53%

9 Mount Rainier 45,565 178,781 25%

10 Shenandoah 42,133 289,242 15%

11 Denali 41,685 110,373 38%

12 Yellowstone 40,460 1,350,236 3%

13 Island Royal 33,808 48,066 70%

14 Rocky Mt. 29,558 159,227 19%

15 Sequia 21,969 226,896 10%

16 Kings Canyon 12,121 169,861 7%

17 Buffalo 8,368 67,248 12%totals 1,245,860 = 69 % of BK data

grand canyon

lake mead

yosemite

great smokey mts

Glenn Canyon

canyonlands

olympic delawater water gap

mount rainier

shenandoah

2012 top 10 BK

grand

canyo

n

lake m

ead

yosem

ite

great

smoke

y mts

Glenn C

anyo

n

canyo

nland

s

olympic

delaw

ater w

ater g

ap

mount

rainie

r -

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

300,418

170,771 168,783

84,236 79,661

58,546 55,776 52,002 45,565

2012 data2003 data

2012 vs 2003 Back-Country Overnight stays

Collection and Disposal of Human Waste

Reference manual 83F A.4Human waste will be safely disposed of in an approved manner and in compliance with the requirements of the local National Park Service Unit. ◦ approved manner – state or local

jurisdiction◦ compliance with local – input from the Park

– which makes sense and is effective for that location

Human waste collection & disposal

NOCA National Park (4533 annual visitation)◦ Managed Collection system Romtec toilet in alpine

and sub alpine for 25 years in 16 locations. ◦ NOCA - Kerri Cook’s work and developed new toilets for

collection of human waste in alpine environments.

Grand Canyon River rafters (over 35,000 annual visit.)◦ South Cove -"SCAT Machine" - dysfunctional

during the 08/09 season ◦ Flagstaff Arizona disposal site◦ Wildcat hill wastewater treatment facility◦ Sandy Utah disposal site

Examples

NOCA Old Romtec backcountry toilet

Prior to 1981 - 35 gallon vaults were used to collect waste from wallowa toilets

Park uses Romtec tm toilets at helicopter friendly sites

Per 2006 study◦ 8 of the 16 units were at 50% capacity – longer a

unit was in service the greater the Poo pile◦ As number of user increases so does the moisture

content. – see next slide

Summary of NOCA Romtec Toilet Survey - by Kerri Cook

moisture content

0

50

100

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17

location

% m

oist

ure

Series1

avg visitation

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

location

num

ber

of v

isito

rs

Series1

ROMTEC Toilets- NOCA

NOCA New BC toilet

NOCA toilet

Grand Canyon River

Flagstaff Arizona - Wildcat Hill Wastewater Treatment Facility

accepts solid waste from river toilets - fee of $1.00 per river can.

Sandy Utah ….you can clean out your poop can's here: Cottonwood South never closed, use the North entrance, and there is a hose on site in the non-freezing months.

Grand canyon

Ammo Can - Grand Canyon

January 6,328 February 7,326 March 23,818 April 30,960 May 39,051 June 33,853 July 28,190 August 26,931 September 28,349 October 26,983 November 16,792 December 7,569 totals 276,150

GRCA – Month 2009 2013

http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/viewReport.cfm

4,2335,863

20,61727,56839,0007,891

30,00229,17029,94615,25316,6128,723

234,878

River runner Grand canyon

NPS DO 83 - “flush toilets; composting toilets; barrel toilets; evaporator toilets; incinerator toilets, pit privies, moldering toilets (colder climates), & cat holes

Suitable Backcountry Waste Disposal

The average person produces approx 180 lbs of feces per year or 0.5 lbs per day.

.44 - .77 lbs per day Bacteria are responsible for 1/3-1/2 of the

dry fecal weight. A study showed that there was a direct

correlation between gender, body weight, age and bread consumption to fecal weight.

How much do we produce

grand canyon water example ◦ 35,000 visitor nights –- @ .44 lbs per day◦ Total = 15,400 lbs◦ Or approximately 7.7 annual tons of human waste

NPS US average over last 31 years - 2009 In those 31 years average annual

backcountry overnight visit was 1,983,044 x 0.44 lbs/day would equal 872,539 lbs

or (1 pound = .45 kilograms) = 392,643 kilograms.

Some numbers to consider

Public Health Issues – 1)Pathogens2) Human Exposure

Bacteria and pathogenic organisms survival are affected by

◦Moisture content◦Type of organism/Competition of species◦Nutrients◦Temperature◦Sunlight (Source - salvato-environmental

engineering and sanitation)

Pathogens and Survival

Moisture content◦ Bacteria and pathogenic organisms like a moisture

content of 10-20 percent Type of organism

◦ Some worm eggs (ascaris ova) can exist for years in soil, some cysts can last for several months in moist soil.

Examples of Pathogenic organisms and survival◦ Coliforms up to 38 days in soil◦ Salmonella up to 120 days in soil◦ Shigella 2-10 days on vegetables or 42 days in

wastewater◦ Most enteroviruses (i.e. norovirus) pass through sewage

treatment plants and survive in surface water (Health aspects of excreta and wastewater management )

Survival

Nutrients◦ Increase survival rates

temperature◦ Low temperatures favor survival. Example - The

survival of Gram-negative and Gram-positive species was similar. Bacterial survival was shortest at 25°C for all species studied, and in most cases longest at 4°C. (Sharron McEldowney, M. Fletcher, July 1988)

Sunlight◦ Exposure to sunlight increases the death rate

(greatest to least inactivation) was as follows: enterococci > fecal coliforms E. coli > somatic coliphages > F-RNA phages (enteric viruses) – (source Lester W. Sinton, Carollyn H. Hall, Philippa A. Lynch, and Robert J. Davies-Colley, 2002)

Survival

ROUTES OF ENTRY

INHALATION INGESTION ABSORPTION INJECTION

Human Exposure

ROUTES OF ENTRY

Human exposure

Inhalation - Absorbed Through the Lungs Into the Bloodstream. Absorption - Absorbed Through the Skin or Eyes. Ingestion - Absorbed Through the Gastro-Intestinal Tract From

Eating, Drinking or Smoking. Injection - Via Puncture wounds such as: Broken Glass,

Needles, Knives Etc.

Protection From Exposure

Visitor◦ Rely on visitor to self

monitor and obey signage/directions

◦ Provide safe methods for collection and disposal

◦ Pack in and pack out◦ Monitor

disease/illness(illness reporting

requirements RM83G1)

NPS Backcountry Staff◦ Regulate PPE◦ Recommend

vaccinations◦ Health care provided◦ Injury prevention and

safety requirements (handwashing, lifting, equipment, etc..)

Protection

NPS/CDC ◦Determined on case by case basis◦Tetanus is recommended for maintenance workers and other employees

◦Hepatitis A is normally not recommended for sewage plant workers or others where the risks is low

◦Occupational health division recommends job hazard analysis

Vaccination Recommendations

Where does it go?

Final treatment and disposal methods

2003 survey results

Final Disposal Backcountry Waste

36%

9%6%

49%

Disposal - cat holes,pit toiletOther

Disposal byincinerationDisposal in WWTP

Percentage of systems used

cat holes11%

carry out15%

pit privy15%Compost

14%

Evap. Devap, vault22%

Septic tanks20%

treatment plants3%

cat holes carry outpit privy CompostEvap. Devap, vault Septic tankstreatment plants

Vermicomposting toilets, an alternative to latrine style microbial composting toilets, prove far superior in mass reduction, pathogen destruction, compost quality, and operational cost – 2012-13 research

Geoffrey B. Hill a,⇑, Susan A. Baldwin b, University of British Columbia, Department of

Geography http://

sustain.ubc.ca/sites/sustain.ubc.ca/files/seedslibrary/ubc_2013_spring_hill_geoff.pdf

http://toilettechsolutions.com/

Vermicomposting toilets

Collection Method is site specific and dependent on local conditions and resources.

Transportation costs are an important aspect. Systems must be dependable (broken is not acceptable) NPS backcountry must remove or treat approx. 522 tons

of human waste annually Keys to success are dependability, simplicity, funding,

personnel, education, inspection, and routine operation & maintenance.

Methods that reduce waste weight decrease costs Worm eggs & Viruses are most difficult to

eliminate/treat.

Conclusions

An “out of order” sign on a backcountry toilet is not acceptable.

Remember…….

Questions?

John Leffel – 206-220-4270

John_leffel@nps.gov