Joseph Needham : Environmental sanitation in villages

Joseph Needham

This poster has 13 frames [numbered in columns starting top left] describing good hygiene practices in villages: (1) Water well: The further from the toilets the better. The well should be covered; there should be a fence and a platform around it. Publicly used water buckets should be suspended from hooks to ensure the well water’s cleanliness. The walls of the well need 3 ge (decilitres) of earth or cement to seal seams and avoid contamination with sewage. (2) The river is divided into sections: beginning at the upper reaches of the river, it is divided into 3 or 4 small sections. The uppermost section is for drinking water. The next section is for washing vegetables and dishes; the third is for washing clothes. No bodily fluids or waste are allowed in it, and don’t put garbage in it or use it as a commode. (3) Kitchen: prevention of flies and rats in kitchens: Cooking utensils, dishes and chopsticks should be washed in boiling water after use, then covered with a clean cloth. Leftover food should also be kept under gauze netting to keep flies off. Bottles, jugs and bowls should have stoppers or covers to protect from rats eating on the sly. (4) Cleaning and sweeping: Specified times should be set for all household members to sweep inside and outside their rooms and the streets. These areas should be inspected and swept often. [The slogan on the wall in this frame reads: “Make a good job of environmental sanitation, guarantee everyone’s health! 搞好環境衛生, 保証人人健康!” ] (5) Cleaning indoors: Rooms should be kept clean, and windows open for ventilation, and to let in sunlight. Floors, walls and kang (heated bed) should be wiped clean, and things [in rooms] kept neat and tidy to avoid clutter. (6) Cleaning outdoors: uproot weeds to prevent deposits of mosquitoes’ eggs and larva. Level off uneven ground and fill in deep pits. Tidy up any water ditches and fill in ditches. This is to prevent rain from accumulating and encouraging mosquitoes. (7) Plug rat holes: rats can spread disease, so it’s necessary to capture and kill them. Use bricks and 3 ge of earth to plug all rat holes, or use rat traps and rat poison. After catching and killing rats, burn or bury them. (8) Covering jars and barrels: Jars and barrels should be covered to prevent rats from getting in. Cupboards and shelves should be half a foot from the wall and raised off the ground on bricks, to prevent rats from sneaking in. (9) Burning: Small fires should be set on the floor and the kang using chopped hay, wheat straw or millet straw, to kill fleas and their eggs and larvae. (10) Waste disposal: Cover piles of human waste in shallow-pit toilets using earth or dry lime to prevent flies from laying eggs in them. Clean excrement frequently, and transport the waste outside the village to a compost heap; cover it with mud. Even if there is bacteria inside that a sick person has produced, the bacteria will all die after one month. (11) Farm animals: keep their living quarters away from human habitations. Sweep out livestock pens frequently, and clean up their waste. Every day, put grass, dry earth or new lime on these areas, in order to keep mosquitoes and flies away and impairing hygiene. (12) Garbage disposal: wooden trash containers or baskets should be covered to keep away flies and mosquitoes. Garbage can be burned or taken outside the village and buried. (13) Waste water disposal: to prevent mosquitoes and flies from getting into it, seepage pits should be dug and all waste water poured in. For waste water from the kitchen, a waste water oil removing trough can be constructed, which connects to a seepage pit. Filters in the trough should be cleaned out regularly.