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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…….
