Resource Center

Emergency water trucking (EWT) is typically a short-term, life-saving intervention that is used to cover interruptions in water service or access to sufficient quantities of water to meet survival requirements.

After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, thousands of agencies, organizations, and individual people tried to find ways to help the people affected. However, there was also an outbreak of cholera in the town of St.

Diarrhea and acute respiratory infections account for nearly 30% of deaths among children displaced by humanitarian emergencies. Handwashing with soap reduces the risk of diarrhea and acute respiratory infection in non-emergency settings.

Changes in water quality of a sand aquifer on the east coast of Sri Lanka due to the 26 December 2004 tsunami and subsequent remediation attempt by pumping were investigated.

Most households in the districts of Sri Lanka affected by the tsunami possessed drinking water wells, and these wells were contaminated by debris, sludge and saltwater.

In July 2007, a study by the Centre for Environmental Health Engineering, at the University of Surrey, assessed a modified method of jerry can cleaning in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Kitgum, N. Uganda.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) response in urban contexts has been identified by the Global WASH Learning Project as a priority for technical learning in the sector.

The construction of sufficient latrines for displaced people in rocky, high water-table areas can be a problem. This article describes how shallow trench latrines were trialled after the Pakistan floods, and these proved to be easy to construct and well accepted.

The water supply of the rural coastal areas in Sri Lanka is provided by private open dug wells, most of which have been flooded by sea water during the tsunami. The salinity of the well affected proved not to be the main problem, and early attempts to rehabilitate wells failed.

Handwashing practices prove to be an effective and easy way of ensuring the health of populations affected by emergencies and humanitarian crieses. However, access and implementation of appropriate handwashing technologies act as barriers in emergencies.