Shelter: Part 1

Shelters within slums or disadvantaged communities are often poorly built and lacking utilities that now have become natural necessities within the modern home.

Septic Systems

In disadvantaged and poorly built communities, often the situation of how to deal with waste becomes a issue hazardous to the health of its residents. There is a way to construct a private septic system that are made up of simply to parts: The holding and digesting tanks, and the dispersal (or leeching) field. The system is shown with images on this website below but can be built in a fairly short and easy number of steps.

If sceptic tanks like these could be implemented within the communities, then the risk of disease and sickness that may spread during poor disposal of waste is now contained.

Roof
To make shelters also functional as well as protection from the elements, one could cheaply put in place a rain water collection system. This helps the lack of clean drinking water often found in areas that are considered to be slums.

The rainwater catchment system, (found on here) is based on the collection of rainwater and gravity flow pressure principles. The rainwater runs off the roof the water into rain gutters which channel the water into a standpipe. When the standpipe reaches its capacity, (in this condition 150 gal,) the overflow runs down a pipe into a large drum.

These systems are relatively inexpensive. and are very flexible in the sense that the barrels can vary in sizes. These systems are easily installed and can be placed wherever is convenient and makes water available where wells are unsafe to be drilled, or river water is unsafe.

To aid the help of roof water collection, there are other types of materials that roofing can be used. These materials can be mass produced and distributed among the communities. Here are some examples.

Patrick Verkley
9 November 2010