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Sanitation · Live with and maintain the system · sanitation-23Set up hygiene and handwashing
Good sanitation only protects health if hands are washed. Off-grid homes, especially with dry toilets and compost handling, need reliable handwashing points.
How
- Put a handwashing station with soap and running water next to every toilet, including outdoor or composting ones.
- Wash for at least 20 seconds: wet, lather with soap, scrub palms, backs, between fingers and under nails, then rinse (CDC).
- Soap and water beats hand sanitiser when hands are dirty or greasy, and it also removes chemicals.
- Keep sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol for times without water (CDC).
- Wash hands after emptying chambers, handling urine, greywater or compost, and before cooking.
- WHO also advises washing hands before meals and food preparation, and after the toilet or changing a baby's nappy.
- Clean toilet seats, handles and urine diverters regularly.
- When power or water pressure fails, switch to the blackout routine in sanitation-26.
Sources
- Hand Hygiene Frequently Asked Questions. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed 2026-11
- Key messages on cholera (poster). World Health Organization (hosted by MIMU), accessed 2026-11