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Written by Avery Pope, Toilet Equity Board Member
How does a centuries-old discovery affect the cleanliness of thePalisade peaches you eat today?
Let’s set the scene - the year is 1854, the place is London. A small community is riddled with an outbreak of disease that we now call Cholera. Symptoms included diarrhea, severe dehydration, and unfortunately in some cases, death.
One man, a physician in the community named John Snow, began investigating what these affected people had in common. Aside from the fact that everyone lived in close quarters in the same community, they didn’t have much else connecting them or their illnesses. Most physicians began to speculate that this disease was airborne and was a result of rotting waste in the streets, but John Snow found a common denominator. After carefully mapping the outbreak and the routines of all the people it affected, he realized all of the affected people used the same water pump on Broad Street, so he shut it down.
As luck - or science - would have it, the outbreak ceased. Once the problem was detected, health care officials at the time were able to investigate why that water pump caused so much illness. They traced it back to sewage dumped into the River Thames as well as cesspools near town wells, both of which got pumped directly to the Broad Street water pump.
This is one of the earliest examples we have of how lack of proper toilet and sanitation systems can result in widespread disease.
Now let's return to the present day. In 2024, fecal-oral disease is still as prevalent as it’s ever been. Bacterial fecal-oral diseases include cholera, ecoli, salmonella, c. difficile, and dysentery, while viral fecal-oral diseases include Hepatitis A and E, Norovirus, Rotavirus, and in some cases Polio.
So, how does lack of toilet access impact the spread of fecal-oral diseases?
In many developing countries, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) is one of the largest public health concerns. They lack improved sanitation systems and instead rely on pit latrines, buckets, hanging toilets, and open defecation in fields and bushes. With unimproved toilet facilities such as these, users are regularly exposed to trace amounts of fecal matter, both their own and other users’. Additionally, sanitation after ‘doing your business’ is minimal or not effective as most of the water is also contaminated. This allows fecal matter to be transported through touch.
Although the United States has more methods of improved sanitation facilities, we still face areas with very little access to toilets. In our Grand Valley for instance, we have a large population of people who have limited access to toilets as they reside along our Colorado River Corridor. The mission of Toilet Equity is to provide populations like these with access to a toilet to help prevent open defecation.
Open defecation in areas near water put communities at higher risk for fecal-oral diseases.
Even though you may not be directly drinking water from the Colorado River without it being treated at a plant first, untreated river water is used to water several crops in the valley. From peaches to vegetables to grapes, water from the Colorado River nourishes the food we love. Without proper toilet access, open defecation near the river can certainly make us sick down the road.
Food aside, most of Western Colorado inhabitants are outdoor enthusiasts. During the summer many of us have spent some days on the river fishing, paddle boarding, kayaking, floating, or even going for a dip after a long bike ride or run. Even trace amounts of fecal contamination can make you sick if they come in contact with your mouth.
This means that tipping over in your boat can have larger consequences than just a wet set of clothes: you could be exposed to a fecal-oral disease as well.
Ultimately, no matter the century, humans have always come face to face - or rather, hand to mouth - with fecal-oral diseases. Proper access to toileting solutions and sanitation after the fact is the best prevention for further spread of these diseases. Don’t stall, join Toilet Equity in our mission to give every individual access to a toilet and improve public and environmental health in our communities.
Helping stop the spread of fecal-oral disease is just one of the reasons Toilet Equity provides equitable toilet access. Click to learn more about why we do what we do.
This article originally appeared in our August 2024 Newsletter. It was subsequently published in The Daily Sentinel on August 24, 2024.
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