The term "sanitation" can be applied to a specific aspect, concept, location, or strategy, such as:

Basic sanitation - refers to the management of human feces at the household level. This terminology is the indicator used to describe the target of the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation.

On-site sanitation - the collection and teatment of waste is done where it is deposited. Examples are the use of pit latrines, septic tanks, and imhoff tanks.

Food sanitation - refers to the hygienic measures for ensuring food safety.

Environmental sanitation - the control of environmental factors that form links in disease transmission. Subsets of this category are solid waste management, water and wastewater treatment, industrial waste treatment and noise and pollution control.

Ecological sanitation - a concept and an approach of recycling to nature the nutrients from human and animal wastes.

 Sanitation and wastewater

Wastewater collection
For more details on this topic, see Wastewater.
The standard sanitation technology in urban areas is the collection of wastewater in sewers, its treatment in wastewater treatment plants for reuse or disposal in rivers, lakes or the sea. Sewers are either combined with storm drains or separated from them as sanitary sewers. Combined sewers are usually found in the central, older parts or urban areas. Heavy rainfall and inadequate maintenance can lead to combined sewer overflows or sanitary sewer overflows, i.e. more or less diluted raw sewage being discharged into the environment. Industries often discharge wastewater into municipal sewers, which can complicate wastewater treatment unless industries pre-treat their discharges.[1]

The high investment cost of conventional wastewater collection systems are difficult to afford for many developing countries. Some countries have therefore promoted alternative wastewater collection systems such as condominial sewerage, which uses smaller diameter pipes at lower depth with different network layouts from conventional sewerage.


Wastewater treatment
For more details on this topic, see Sewage treatment.

Sewage treatment plant, Australia.In developed countries treatment of municipal wastewater is now widespread,[2] but not yet universal (for an overview of technologies see wastewater treatment). In developing countries most wastewater is still discharge untreated into the environment. For example, in Latin America only about 15% of collected sewerage is being treated (see water and sanitation in Latin America)


Reuse of wastewater
The reuse of untreated wastewater in irrigated agriculture is common in developing countries. The reuse of treated wastewater in landscaping (esp. on golf courses), irrigated agriculture and for industrial use is becoming increasingly widespread.

In many peri-urban and rural areas households are not connected to sewers. They discharge their wastewater into septic tanks or other types of on-site sanitation.


Ecological sanitation
For more details on this topic, see Ecological sanitation.
Ecological sanitation is sometimes presented as a radical alternative to conventional sanitation systems. Ecological sanitation is based on the separation of urine and feces at the source for sanitization and recycling. It thus eliminates fecal pathogens from the wastewater flow. If ecological sanitation is practiced municipal wastewater consists of greywater, which can be recycled for gardening. However, in most cases greywater continues to be discharged to sewers.

Sanitation and public health
The importance of waste isolation lies in an effort to prevent water and sanitation related diseases, which afflicts both developed countries as well as developing countries to differing degrees. It is estimated that up to 5 million people die each year from preventable water-borne disease[3], as a result of inadequate sanitation and hygiene practices.

Global access to improved sanitation
The Joint Monitoring Program for water and sanitation of WHO and UNICEF has defined improved sanitation as

connection to a public sewer
connection to a septic system
pour-flush latrine
simple pit latrine
ventilated improved pit latrine
According to that definition, 59% of the world population had access to improved sanitation in 2004. [1] Only slightly more than half of them or 31% of the world population lived in houses connected to a sewer. Overall, 2.6 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation and thus had to resort to open defecation or other unsanitary forms of defecation, such as public latrines or open pit latrines. This outcome presents substantial public health risks as the waste could contaminate drinking water and cause life threatening forms of diarrhea to infants.

In developed countries, where less than 20% of the world population lives, 99% of the population has access to improved sanitation and 81% were connected to sewers.

Solid waste disposal

Hiriya Landfill, Israel.Disposal of solid waste is most commonly conducted in landfills, but incineration, recycling, composting and conversion to biofuels are also avenues. In the case of landfills, advanced countries typically have rigid protocols for daily cover with topsoil, where underdeveloped countries customarily rely upon less stringent proocols[4]. The importance of daily cover lies in the reduction of vector contact and spreading of pathogens. Daily cover also minimises odour emissions and reduces windblown litter. Likewise, developed countries typically have requirements for perimeter sealing of the landfill with clay-type soils to minimize migration of leachate that could contaminate groundwater (and hence jeopardize some drinking water supplies).

For incineration options, the release of air pollutants, including certain toxic components is an attendant adverse outcome. Recycling and biofuel conversion are the sustainable options that generally have superior life cycle costs, particularly when total ecological consequences are considered[5]. Composting value will ultimately be limited by the market demand for compost product.