If you pour water from your glass for drinking and eat your food in your fridge which you bought from the markets. Do you guarantee that it is safe to be consumed and safe for your health?

Probably most people are confident to answer it—Yes.

Did you ever wonder why markets free to sell goods for consumers such as foods to eat and wonder why the water is pure, safe to drink? The reason is because of a branch of public health called sanitation.

What is sanitation?

Sanitation is concerned with keeping the environment, the place you live in, and the neighborhood around you healthful. The environment includes the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe in. It doesn't matter what or how big the surroundings is, or where it is located. Sanitation is for everyone, in the city, in the countryside, or a primitive village.

Most of us have been a part of the sanitation program but we just did not recognize it. As early as primary school, we as children were directed to clean our rooms, make our bed, put our clothes away, wash the dishes, sweep the floor, and do other household chores.

The term “sanitation” can be applied to a specific aspect, concept, location, or strategy, such as:

Basic sanitation – this refers to the management of human feces or human wastes at the household level.

On-site sanitation – the collection and treatment of waste is done where it is deposited. Take the use of pit latrines, septic tanks, and Imhoff tanks for an instance.

Food sanitation – this refers to the hygienic measures for ensuring food safety.

Environmental sanitation – it is the control of environmental aspects that form connections in disease transmission.

This has subset categories which are solid waste management, water, and wastewater treatment, industrial waste treatment, and noise and pollution control.

Ecological sanitation – this is a concept and an approach of recycling to nature the nutrients from human and animal wastes.

*Source:https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/article/aib0614-plant-sanitation-program/

What happens if there is no Sanitation?

Poor sanitation is linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio and exacerbates stunting.

Poor sanitation reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost educational opportunities.

*It was according to the World Health Organization.

Without sanitation, crowded or not crowded places can cause harm to people, or to the one who lives in there. When people are crowded together, there would be a greater chance of waves of diseases that affect humans. And without sanitation, these diseases are easily transmitted and spread.

Water Purification

One of the main ways to spread germs spread through water. And as you noticed, places with crowded populations have higher tendencies to have impure water or polluted water that can contaminate the safety of water supply.

With the help of sanitation, methods were discovered for keeping water pure and safe. Cesspools, septic tanks, and other types of equipment for taking care of wastes were placed so they couldn't possibly drain into water supplies. However, germs still got into the water in other ways. But nowadays, water is treated in different ways to kill any germs that might contaminate it. Usually, it is done with a chemical called chlorine. That's the reason why you can sometimes smell its odor when you open your faucets at home.

However, there are certain times where purified water isn't available, traditionally people were told that water should be boiled before it can be safely consumed and drink.

Inspection of Restaurants

Maybe if the pandemic didn't happen, most of us love to “kumain sa labas”, or go out and eat in a restaurant, order the foods and meals we love to savor. Most people who didn't have time to prepare their meals often dines in a restaurant.

When you choose to dine in, did you ever asked yourself if the foods being served are safe to eat?

Well, most of us as I've said above was very confident to answer it was safe. And to be tactful, restaurants serve safe delicious meals because of sanitation. Restaurants are inspected by experts from the health department. In some cities, the restaurants perform their inspections under supervision from health authorities.

I've experienced this inspection when I was still working in the restaurant as a “Dining Staff”. Experts from the department of health inspected us during our work hours. We were supervised especially in the kitchen area, where food is prepared and served while performing our duties. They also inspected the way how we clean the table and serve the ordered meals of customers. Our restaurant was checked up too, from the ceiling, walls, windows, comfort rooms, down to the floor, the whole dining and kitchen area. After the supervision, we were being graded by the health authorities, and they will tell the results to our manager and give pieces of advice if there's needed for improvement and something that we lacked.

There's also monthly scheduled pest control. This was done after the store hours. Every pest control, we covered the utensils, equipment, and everything that is used except for the tables and chairs inside the restaurant. Then a person from the pest control department will spray the chemicals. And the day after the pest control, we clean and sanitize everything.

Food is very essential in human life, and even just one restaurant serving spoiled food can pass on the disease to a large number of people. Not only in the restaurants but it also goes to any food manufacturers, food is not only inspected in the markets but also in places where foods are made.

Sanitation at Home

This is one of the most important place where sanitation must be kept, at home. Truthfully, sanitation experts and health authorities can't influence nor supervised and influence what happens inside the people's homes. People living in their houses are responsible for their sanitation. Keeping your house clean makes your self and health to be in a safe state. If you don't want rats and unwanted insects such as cockroaches crawl to above and under your table, foods should avoided left lying around and must be kept well or refrigerated. Proper care of garbage is also crucial to avoid pests at home.

Proper management of your wastes or garbages is very important in maintaining the cleanliness and safety of your home against diseases and pests. As every home generates organic or inorganic wastes, managing these wastes needs proper plans and disposal. In the home perspective waste or garbage is of three types, organic waste, toxic waste, and recyclable waste. I know you always heard of this since you were a kid, the segregation of wastes. This was taught at school and must be applied at home or anywhere you go.

If you wanted to manage your wastes more simply, the first thing you must do is reduce your wastes at home. You can avoid plastics, most plastics are not recyclable on-biodegradable and it is one of the most used by all people with the most number of wastes.

When you go to the grocery shop or marktes, you can bring or carry your bag or an eco bag for your shopped items. And you can use a glass container for storage especially for your kitchen items, do not use plastic containers, because glass is safer and good storage helps in keeping your family healthier.

Here in our locality, garbage disposal has its schedule, that's every Thursday in the morning. People here should put their segregated wastes inside a sack and it should be tied properly to avoid being scattered by stray dogs or other animals. Everyone in the barangay must follow this, and each and everyone is responsible for their own garbages. It's the simplest way every people can offer in maintaining the sanitation and cleanliness of the place.

Sanitation is also necessary for the workplace. It is not only for food industries, as I've mentioned it was for everyone. May it is a small or huge business, food or not, sanitation must be considered and must be kept. A clean workplace is much safer. It can prevent slips, trips, and falls and to prevent excessive dust that causes allergens and other risky health factors to the workers and customers.

Sanitation plays an important role not only in human lives but for our planet. We may never think always nor recognize this, each one of us has been a part of it and it has been a part of our lives too.

Especially we are still facing an invisible opponent, the COVID-19. Let's help our environment and our selves and the people around us by doing what is right, by keeping and maintaining cleanliness and hygienic deeds. A cleaner and hygienic place means a safer and healthier world.

Written by: @eommaZel ✍🏻🥀

All Photos from Unsplash 🖤