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A latrine (from Latin lavatrina a privy) is a structure (usually small, holding a single person, and freestanding) for defecation
Defecation

Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus....
 and urination
Urination

Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, and, more rarely, emiction, is the process of disposing urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body....
. Latrines allow for safer and more hygienic disposal of human waste
Human waste

Human waste is a waste type usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste is most often transported as sewage in waste water through sewerage systems....
 than open defecation. They are used in rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
 areas and low-income urban
Urban area

An urban area is an area with an increased Population density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be city, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlet ....
 communities, with significant use in the developing world. Many variations exist, but at its simplest, the reason for using a latrine is that waste is controlled and decomposed
Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
 into safer by-products.

Latrine is also a term common in the US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 Military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
, specifically for the Army
Army

An army , in the broadest sense, is the land-based armed forces of a nation. It may also include other branches of the military such as an air force....
 and Air Force
Air force

An air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps , is in the broadest sense, the national armed force or armed service that primarily conducts aerial warfare....
 for any point of entry facility where human waste is disposed of, which a civilian might call a bathroom
Bathroom

A bathroom is a room that may have different functions depending on the cultural context. In the most literal sense, the word bathroom means "a room with a bath"....
 or toilet
Toilet

A toilet is a plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the excretory system: urine and feces. Additionally, vomit and menstrual waste is sometimes disposed in toilets in western societies....
, regardless of how modern or primitive it is.








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A latrine (from Latin lavatrina a privy) is a structure (usually small, holding a single person, and freestanding) for defecation
Defecation

Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus....
 and urination
Urination

Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, and, more rarely, emiction, is the process of disposing urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body....
. Latrines allow for safer and more hygienic disposal of human waste
Human waste

Human waste is a waste type usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste is most often transported as sewage in waste water through sewerage systems....
 than open defecation. They are used in rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
 areas and low-income urban
Urban area

An urban area is an area with an increased Population density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be city, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlet ....
 communities, with significant use in the developing world. Many variations exist, but at its simplest, the reason for using a latrine is that waste is controlled and decomposed
Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
 into safer by-products.

Latrine is also a term common in the US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 Military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
, specifically for the Army
Army

An army , in the broadest sense, is the land-based armed forces of a nation. It may also include other branches of the military such as an air force....
 and Air Force
Air force

An air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps , is in the broadest sense, the national armed force or armed service that primarily conducts aerial warfare....
 for any point of entry facility where human waste is disposed of, which a civilian might call a bathroom
Bathroom

A bathroom is a room that may have different functions depending on the cultural context. In the most literal sense, the word bathroom means "a room with a bath"....
 or toilet
Toilet

A toilet is a plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the excretory system: urine and feces. Additionally, vomit and menstrual waste is sometimes disposed in toilets in western societies....
, regardless of how modern or primitive it is.

Types

Many forms of latrine technology have been used in the past, from utterly simple to more sophisticated, while newer developments show promise using ecological sanitation
Ecological sanitation

Ecological sanitation, also known as ecosan or eco-san, is a new paradigm in sanitation that recognises human excreta and household wastewater not as waste but as resources that can and are recovered, treated , and reused....
 (EcoSan).

Some different types and technologies regarding latrines are:

  • Pit toilet
    Pit toilet

    A pit toilet or compost toilet is a method of collection of human waste, used for composting, decomposition, or waste disposal used most often in areas with no sewer system....
    s, or pit latrines, are the simplest and cheapest type, minimally defined as a hole in the ground. The most basic improvement is installation of a floor plate. A dry pit does not penetrate the water table
    Water table

    The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the Groundwater in a given vicinity....
    , while a wet pit does.


  • A Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine is one that reduces two of the most common problems with a simple pit latrine: odor
    Odor

    An odor or odour is a volatilized chemical compound, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction....
     and fly
    Fly

    True flies are insects of the Order Diptera , possessing a single pair of insect wing on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
    /mosquito
    Mosquito

    Mosquitoes are common flying insects in the family Culicidae that are found around the world. There are about 3,500 species. They have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and six long legs....
     breeding. Adding a ventilating
    Ventilation (architecture)

    Ventilation is the intentional movement of air from outside a building to the inside. It is the V in HVAC. With clothes dryers, and combustion equipment such as water heaters, boilers, fireplaces, and wood stoves, their exhausts are often called vents or flues — this should not be confused with ventilation....
     pipe is the key improvement of the ventilated improved pit latrine. See Pit toilet
    Pit toilet

    A pit toilet or compost toilet is a method of collection of human waste, used for composting, decomposition, or waste disposal used most often in areas with no sewer system....
    .


  • The Double-vault Ventilated Composting Latrine is currently the most advanced, free-standing latrine. Apart from offering significant reduction in risk from waterborne disease, this type of ecological sanitation
    Ecological sanitation

    Ecological sanitation, also known as ecosan or eco-san, is a new paradigm in sanitation that recognises human excreta and household wastewater not as waste but as resources that can and are recovered, treated , and reused....
     provides the closure of some nutrient cycles by allowing the safe, compost
    Compost

    Compost , sometimes known as brown manure, is the end result of controlled aerobic decomposition of organic matter known as composting. It is used in landscaping, horticulture and agriculture as a soil conditioner and fertilizer to add vital humus or humic acids....
    ed waste to be used as a "free" soil treatment in agriculture.


  • Squat toilet
    Squat toilet

    A squat toilet is a toilet used by squatting defecation posture, rather than sitting defecation posture. There are several types of squat toilets, but they all consist essentially of a hole in the ground....


  • A water privy uses a watertight tank that receives the waste and sends it to an underground seepage pit or drainage area.


  • "Flying latrines" refers to plastic bags used as toilets in African slums, so named because after being filled, "you throw them as far away as you can." This has led to the banning of the manufacture and import of such bags in Uganda
    Uganda

    The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
    , Kenya
    Kenya

    The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
    , and Tanzania
    Tanzania

    Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
    .
  • Reed Odourless Earth Closet (ROEC)
    Reed Odourless Earth Closet (ROEC)

    Reed odourless earth closet is a variation on the ventilated improved pit latrine. With ROEC, the pit is fully off-set from the superstructure and is connecting to the squatting plate by a curve chute....
     is an improvement of VIP latrine. Common in southern Africa.
  • Pour-Flush Latrine
  • Cistern-Flush Toilet
  • Bucket Latrine
  • Pour-Flush Toilet and Vault.


See also

  • Community-led total sanitation
    Community-led total sanitation

    Community-led total sanitation , is a grassroots approach to sanitation developed in Bangladesh. It follows the philosophy of participatory rural appraisal, or PRA....
  • Composting toilet
    Composting toilet

    A composting toilet is a closed unit, not connected to a sewage system or septic tank, used to receive, contain, and Composting human waste via aerobic biodegradation....
  • Ecological sanitation
    Ecological sanitation

    Ecological sanitation, also known as ecosan or eco-san, is a new paradigm in sanitation that recognises human excreta and household wastewater not as waste but as resources that can and are recovered, treated , and reused....
  • Outhouse
    Outhouse

    The term outhouse usually refers to a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a Flush toilet and is not attached to a Sanitary sewer....
  • Pit toilet
    Pit toilet

    A pit toilet or compost toilet is a method of collection of human waste, used for composting, decomposition, or waste disposal used most often in areas with no sewer system....
  • Septic tank
    Septic tank

    A septic tank, the key component of a septic system, is a small scale sewage treatment system common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes provided by private corporations or local governments....
  • Sewer
    Sewer

    Sewer may refer to:*A system for transporting sewage:**Sanitary sewer, a system of pipes used to transport human waste**Storm drain, a collection and transportation system for storm water...
  • Waste disposal
  • Head (watercraft)
    Head (watercraft)

    The head is a ship's water closet or toilet.The term derives from sailing ships in which the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship....
  • Reed Odourless Earth Closet (ROEC)
    Reed Odourless Earth Closet (ROEC)

    Reed odourless earth closet is a variation on the ventilated improved pit latrine. With ROEC, the pit is fully off-set from the superstructure and is connecting to the squatting plate by a curve chute....