Objective To understand the hygienic condition and problems of latrine in rural areas of Dujiangyan, Sichuan.
Methods In 2009, 2-3 villages were randomly chosen from each of the 18 towns in Dujiangyan, and 15-20 households from each of the selected villages were interviewed on sanitary status of latrine, excreta disposal, and awareness of sanitary latrine using questionnaires.
Results Of the 741 households interviewed, 97.7% installed household latrines. The popularization rate of sanitary latrines was 37.3%, including three-compartment septic tanks (17.8%), complete sewerage water flush latrines (11.7%), and biogas-producing latrines (6.3%). However, 60.5% of the households still used non-sanitary latrines, mainly including pit toilets (51.4%) and simple water flush toilets (9.0%). Despite 84.9% of the household latrines with complete shelter structure, only 52.2% were in good sanitary condition. The coverage rate of sanitary latrines in house was 85.1% and 50.5% of non-sanitary latrines were installed outdoors. Feces utilization rates of household latrines were 70.0%, among which 62.5% were used as manure. Feces innocuous disposal rate was only 40.1%. As to the awareness of sanitary latrines, 59.8% of the respondents were aware of the concept of sanitary latrine, 66.3% understood that feces could spread diseases, 15.9% learned how to use septic tanks, and only 11.3% answered all the questions correctly. Education and occupation were the main influencing factors of the awareness rate of sanitary latrine.
Conclusion Both the rates of sanitary latrine popularization and feces innocuous disposal are low in the rural areas of Dujiangyan, which indicates potential public health hazards in excrement management. The low awareness rate of sanitary latrine requires urgent attention to health education, especially for the rural farmers with low education.
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