58 Health Problems from Unsafe Water
Washing hands
One of the best ways to prevent health problems from
germs and worms is to wash hands with soap and water
after defecating or cleaning a baby’s bottom, and before
preparing food, feeding children, or eating.
Keep a source of clean water near your home to make hand washing easier.
But washing with water alone is not effective enough. Use soap to remove dirt
and germs. If no soap is available, use sand, soil, or ashes.
Rub hands together with soap and flowing water from a pump, tap (faucet),
or tippy tap. If there is no flowing water, use a washbasin or bowl.
Lather soap (or rub sand or ashes) all over your hands and count to 30 as
you rub them. Then rub your hands together under the water to rinse off.
Dry with a clean cloth or let your hands dry in the air.
The tippy tap: A simple hand-washing device
The tippy tap allows you to wash your hands using very little water.
It also allows the user to rub both hands together while water runs
over them. The tippy tap is made of materials that are freely available and
can be put wherever people need to wash their hands, for example, near the
cooking stove, at the toilet, or in a market.
Howbtconbmxnackbe a plastic tippy tap
To make this tippy tap you need 1) a plastic bottle with a screw-on cap (the sort
soda drinks come in), and 2) a drinking straw, or the tube from a ballpoint pen, or
some other small, stiff, hollow tube. The bigger the bottle, the better, because it
does not need to be filled as often.
➊ Clean the bottle.
➋ Using a heated piece of wire, make a small hole in the lower part of the bottle.
➌ If you do not have a drinking straw, clean the inside tube from a
ballpoint pen. Cut it off at an angle, and push it through the hole in
the bottle. The tube should fit tightly.
➍ Fill the bottle with water and replace
the cap. When the cap is tight, no
water should flow through the tube.
When the cap is loose, water should
flow out in a steady stream. When
you are sure that it works, hang it or
place it on a shelf where people can
use it for hand washing. Keep soap
nearby, or thread a bar of soap with
string and tie it to the bottle.
➎ To use the tippy tap:
Loosen the cap just
enough to let water
flow. Wet your hands,
add soap, and rub
your hands together
under the water
until they are
clean.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012