When no toilet facilities are available for office/accommodation area, a basic pit latrine is the fastest and cheapest option. For simple guidance on construction of a pit latrine, please see:
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/fs3_4.pdf
http://www.washplus.org/sites/default/files/latrines-access.pdf
Pit latrines can usually be constructed with locally available materials and labor. The exact construction will depend on the composition of the ground and available materials. In general, consider bricks and cement for constructing the pit slab and lining the pit wall. The pit wall may also be constructed by welding together two 50 gallon drums. The following are the materials needed for construction of a basic pit latrine with a 1.2 meter diameter cement slab (ferrocement) with a pit 2 meters deep.
Guidelines:
- Pit latrines should be about 0.8 m across and 2 m deep. Circular pits are stronger.
- The rim of the pit should be raised about 15 cm and cut-off ditches dug to divert any rainwater surface run-off.
- The sides of the pit should be reinforced, perhaps to a depth of 1 m below ground level to prevent collapse.
- When a pit is three-quarters full, it should be filled with soil and the superstructure and squatting plate moved to a new pit.
Materials for constructing privacy structure will depend on availability in local market.
| Latrine component | Materials |
| Squatting slab | .5 bag cement28L Sand2.4 square meters chicken wire |
| Pit wall lining | 1.8 bags cement715 bricks |
| Perimeter | 90 bricks |