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It
starts with an S and it ends with a T. It comes out of you and it
comes out of me. Yes! I know what you're thinking, but don't call it
that. Let's be scientific and all call it scat.
A
warning.... This article deals with scat, a normal bi-product of our
bodies that some parents may not want their underage children to read
about. In order to assure in-depth understanding and communication,
the article utilizes various synonyms for feces and urine. Any such
parents reading this are advised to consider shielding your kids. Any
adolescents or children younger than 18 years of age who have any
question as to suitability should consult with their parent(s) before
reading any farther.
By
the time this article hits the street, summer will be upon us. If
there's any water, an appreciable proportion of GCAers will be
planning short (or epic) boat-supported camping trips. By this, I
mean between overnight and a month of sleeping on the ground and
living out of whatever you were able to stuff into your boat.
Knowledgeable campers always take one last dump before shoving off,
but the urge will come again at some time during the trip, and I
don't recall ever reading an Eddy Line article on human waste
disposal.
So,
with my infectious disease medical background and four decades
experience leading short and epic wilderness trips, I decided to
tackle the subject. It's a dirty and thankless task, but someone has
to step up to the potty and wrestle with it.
By
human waste, I mean scat (feces, poo, BM) and urine (pee, #1,
micturation). Pee is easy and more common, so we'll deal with it
first.
Cutting
to the quick, you can pee virtually anywhere (within reason). Why?
Urine is produced by the kidneys, which are paired retroperitoneal
organs that filter metabolic waste products from the blood and help
to maintain the body's acid/base balance. Factoid, the reason people
pee excessively when at high altitude is to correct the respiratory
alkalosis that occurs when CO2 is blown-off by hyperventilation. That
fact not withstanding, urine in the kidneys is sterile (it contains
no bacteria or other germs). Yes, there are exceptions, but anyone
who has a severe kidney infection ain't gonna be campin'.
In
general, the lower urinary tract (ureters, bladder, and urethra) is
also pretty much pathogen free (remember my Devaux Island article,
pathogens are microscopic germs that make you sick). In the Grand
Canyon, the National Park Service instructs boaters to pee directly
into the main flow of the river. The volume of urine that would
result if every single boater simultaneously peed into the Colorado
is miniscule compared to the 20,000 cubic feet of water passing a
given pissing point every second.
Be
warned, however, even though it makes imminent sense, this is not a
universal NPS recommendation, and some otherwise reasonable folks
find the idea abhorrent. The primary reason for peeing directly into
the Colorado derives from the fragile nature of the desert ecosystem.
Urine contains metabolic waste products, which when many people empty
their bladders in the same general area (e.g., around camp sites) can
kill moss, lichen, and other fragile plants.
In
addition to becoming a biologic kill zone, common pee sites quickly
acquire a characteristic stench. However, one critter's stench is
another's ambrosia. Urine factoid #2, many animals are attracted to
urine and will go out of their way to munch on leaves and small
plants that have been doused with the substance. So the area becomes
a de-facto buffer, which in its own right damages the ecosystem. So,
if you can't bring yourself to pee in the river, use common sense, do
it away from camp, and try not to saturate the plants.
Scat
is not so simple. Again cutting to the quick, youcan't take a dump
virtually anywhere because scat is filthy, smelly, awful stuff that
has tremendous staying power (it doesn't just go away). By filthy, I
mean scat is infested with some really nasty germs and even the not
so nasty ones will make you sicker than a dog. Fecal-orally
transmitted diseases are arguably the leading cause of death and
disability in the world. "Eat scat and die" is not an idle
expression.
Even
the most benign turd teems with Escherichia coli, a bacteria that at
minimum causes diarrhea. By teeming, I mean a gram of feces (about
the size of a pencil eraser) may contain a million or so E. coli and
the average adult produces about 2 pounds of excreta every day. By
comparison, this article contains around 10,000 characters.
Now,
picture 100 times as many bacteria wriggling around in an
eraser-sized piece of feces, then magnify this by the two pounds
(about half a gallon) or so of feces produced daily by each person on
a trip. And, E. coli isn't the only bad thing in stool. You'll also
find Salmonella (causes typhoid fever), Giardia (causes a nasty
slimy/fatty diarrhea and other problems), amoeba, and all kinds of
viruses in the feces of your friends (not to mention strangers).
Presumably,
if you're still reading, I have gotten your attention. There are four
basic methods of scat disposal, and taking a dump in the river ain't
one of them. Crapping in the river is not an option because each
bowel movement contains too many infectious agents. Hepatitis A,
cholera, typhoid fever and turista all result from fecally
contaminated drinking water.
The
first, preferable, and least complicated method of feces management
is to utilize the outhouses provided in many camping areas (even in
many wilderness locations). These privies may stink to high heaven
and be infested with mosquitoes, flies, and spiders. But you should
always use a formal outhouse when available because all the poo is
well contained in one place.
The
second, equally preferable, but considerably more complicated method
is to pack it out. That's right. You produced it, so take it with
you. Traditionally, this is accomplished by means of a groover (hence
the title of this article). In some areas, such as the Grand Canyon,
groovers are mandatory.
What's
a groover? The classic groover is a military surplus 20mm canon shell
container or rocket box. You use it just like your home bathroom
throne. Purists use it as is and arise with grooved buttocks. Softies
bring a toilet seat and place it on the rocket box. Yuppies buy an
expensive wilderness personal waste disposal system (WPWDS) over the
net or at Galyeans.
There
are several secrets to successful groover management.
1)
One person (Groover Meister) should be assigned permanent groover
duty.
2)
The groover should be set up in the most magnificent locale possible,
away from camp and well traveled trails, easily accessible at night,
and down wind from camp.
3)
Consider a groover key; something obvious left at the beginning of
the trail to the groover (when it's not in use), carried to groover
by each user, and replaced when the job is done.
4)
Consider providing the Groover Meister with chemicals to help
decompose the scat and cut down odor. She/he sprinkles these lightly
on top of the new material each morning before locking down the
rocket box.
5)
Only use the groover for defecation and toilet paper. Never pee in
it. Urine in the groover adds significant unnecessary volume and
weight and retards decomposition.
6)
How many groovers to take depends on the number of people and
duration of the trip. We used 3 rocket boxes for 16 people on an
18-day Grand Canyon trip.
7)
Finally, what to do with the groover when the trip is over? More than
likely, this will not be a problem. The popular big rivers, like the
Grand Canyon, Hells Canyon, Yampa and Salt (which require groovers),
have groover stations (automatic closed systems that flush and clean
up the accumulated mess). If these are not available, RV waste
disposal stations do almost as good a job. But what if at the end of
the trip you have a box or two of 10-day old caa caa and nowhere
obvious to put it? Being a responsible physician and Eddy Line
contributor, I will merely counsel that you're on your own (just
don't get caught).
The
last two methods are similar and straightforward. Both involve
digging a hole, defecating into it, and filling it back up when done.
If you are in a small group and moving around in a relatively
untraveled area, dig a cat hole. What's a cat hole? A cat hole is a 4
to 8 inches deep, 4 to 6 inch diameter hole, which is most
efficaciously dug with a trowel. It is a single person, single use
latrine. When you're done, fill it back up with at least 2 inches of
dirt.
If
you are in a larger group, in a more highly traveled area, or plan on
spending some time in camp, dig a big poop pit (AKA latrine).
Latrines should be at least a foot deep and everyone in the group
should use the same latrine. Throw a small amount of dirt in it after
each use, and when the waste accumulation is within 4 inches of so of
the surface, fill it back up.
Latrine
placement should follow the same aesthetics as for groovers. However,
since your scat is going to stay behind, you need to follow some
rules that don't apply to groovers. To wit, cat holes and latrines
must be at least 200 feet from any water sources or drainages
(remember the germs).
It
should be obvious when to do a latrine rather than a cat hole. Use a
latrine to avoid creating a cat hole minefield that someone will step
into. Well, no problemo, scat quickly decomposes when buried, so no
matter what I do, next week's group won't even know I was there.
Not
true. Scat doesn't just go away on its own. The Sierra Club did a
study in the 1970s in which they marked the location of latrines on a
large group point-to-point trip (i.e., latrines were used for less
than a day). Then, a group of intrepid volunteers returned one to
three years later and excavated these treasure sites.
Guess
what they found? Essentially what was originally dumped there. The
excreta pretty much looked and smelled like it had years ago. Worse,
pathogenic bacterial concentrations were just as bad as in fresh
scat.
Two
other issues remain to be discussed. First, those who have worked for
the government know that the job ain't finished 'til the paper work
is done. Indeed toilet paper is part of the 21st Century American
evacuation ritual. Unfortunately, there's no where to flush it in the
woods.
Groovers
are just like our home throne and putting the used TP in the groover
is flushing. Cat holes and latrines are not thrones and you should
not bury used toilet paper in them because it decomposes extremely
slowly and because animals like to dig it up.
Nor
should you light it on fire. This is important so I will repeat it,
DO NOT BURN YOUR USED TOILET PAPER!!!!! Why? Because, no matter how
straightforward this seems, countless wildfires are started every
year because some idiot thought it would be simple and complication
free to just torch that small piece of used TP. Well then this leaves
you with two obvious options. Pack the used TP out (in Ziploc bags
brought along just for that purpose) or use something else to wipe
off with (like in the old days).
We're
almost done, but one important issue remains to discuss in closing.
It's relatively simple, and anyone who has ever used a lavatory in a
McDonalds, Waffle House, or similar establishment knows it.
"Employees must wash their hands before returning to work."
This is public health 101. Remember that earlier paragraph that
really got your attention? Scat is filthy awful stuff that has
tremendous staying power and is infested with some really nasty
germs, which will make you sicker than a dog.
That's
the final take-home message. Washing your hands every time after you
use the groover, a cat hole, or the latrine is not optional. You can
go two weeks in the Grand Canyon without bathing and, other than
smelling rank, it makes no difference to anyone. Lick your fingers
with 10,000 or so E. coli under your nails and you're going to get
sick and your fun filled vacation will be over. Stir the morning
oatmeal with 10,000 or so Giardi dripping off your fingers and
everyone on the trip could be puking their guts up and crapping their
bowels out within two days.
Set
up a wash station at the latrine or groover or have something
available in a central location if using cat holes. Hand cleaning
should occur at least 200 feet from water sources (duh). Wet your
hands and lather up with phosphate- free biodegradable soap. Then,
rinse well by pouring water over your hands, not by dipping them into
a pot of water. We use an old coffee can with holes punched in the
bottom. It is hung from a branch, water is poured in the top and
comes out the bottom like a shower head.
by
William C. Reeves (The Hawk)
From
The Eddy Line, June 2004
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Safety and Training
