Ventilated improved pit latrines
Practical Action
Tiled and corrugated roofs
The corrugated roof is probably the easiest to construct and will last a long time, along with
the tiles. Like the concrete slab you will need to build the bricks up on the chimney side to
create a slant for drainage.
You will need some support pieces of wood to hold the tiles or corrugated sheet. The length of
theses will vary depending on your structure, but it is again important to note you will need to
allow for an overhang. When you have your beams fixed then you can begin to lay your sheet
or your tiles.
You must make sure that they are both fixed down correctly using suitable fixings depending
on your structure. The corrugated sheets need have good overlaps between them, as do the
tiles. You don’t want the roof to leak. Depending on your tiles or corrugated iron you may need
to seal them as required.
Finishing the roof
Once the roof is complete you are ready for finishing
For the cone roof and the concrete slab roof, keep the roof damp for about a week. Splash
water on it and keep covered with plastic. When the latrine has dried you can paint if desired.
For the corrugated and tiled roofs, there may be gaps between the wall and the roof, which
may be filled with mortar. This is to stop the light getting in and so deterring flies from
coming up the latrine
Paint the inside of the wall white to make it very easy to see when inside.
References and further reading
Types of toilet and their suitability Practical Action Technical Brief
Compost Toilets Practical Action Technical Brief
Training Manual for Eco-Toilet Construction Practical Action Bangladesh and UNICEF
Shit Matters L Mehta & S Movik Practical Action Publishing 2010
Toilets That Make Compost Peter Morgan Practical Action Publishing 2008
Ecological Sanitation Esrey S Et al. Sida, Stockholm, 1998
Sustainable Sewerage: Guidelines for community schemes Reed R.A. Practical Action
Publishing, 1995
Latrine Building: A handbook to implementing the Sanplat system Brandberg B.
Practical Action Publishing,1997
Blair Latrines Builders Instruction Manual. Laver S. Blair Research Laboratory.
Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines: Vent Pipe Design Guidelines Ryan B.A Et al. The World
Bank, Washington.1983
Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines: Recent Developments in Zimbabwe Morgan P.R Et al.
The World Bank, Washington, 1982
The Design of Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines. Duncan Mara, D. The World Bank,
Washington, 1984.
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation: A Text From Zimbabwe’s Blair Research Laboratory,
Morgan P. MacMillan Publishers, 1990
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