Thanks, Shingo.

Tokyo's pipe repair technology is fascinating. Even better is the set up with the transparent pipe and the two manholes for the training demonstration. To help me understand better I will ask a neighbor from Japan to help out. Very interesting to watch.

I am interested in how sewer utilities and emergency managers do public outreach. I would hope that we have something similar on our side of the Pacific Rim, which is also preparing for a big quake. Is Japan exporting these advanced technologies or doing training with emergency teams internationally?

Thanks,
Carol

In our country, if a huge disaster occurred, we had to prepare the toilet emergency every time.
For that reason, we developed a lot of simple toilets for disasters, but most disaster toilets were the development of the design of the part of the toilet on the ground, but that is not very important.
It's enough if you only have two boards.
More than that, the earthquake-proof structure of the underground part is very important for manhole toilets for disasters.
In short, the mechanism of sewage depends on the circumstances of various countries. Therefore, even if it is not a disaster, even if you bring TOTO's state-of-the-art washlet toilet, you will not be able to use it in all countries.
This time, I will introduce the demonstration that the sewerage department of Tokyo in Tokyo that I saw will explain the repair of a big sewer pipe in the event of a disaster.

tamagawacraft wrote: Dear Carol

Japan was an anniversary of physical education on October 9th. Every year, a trail running race will be held this day. There were 2,600 athletes participating this year.
We operated all the toilets of the convention with 5 staff members. The number of people is concentrated more than the huge earthquake disaster. It was held at night as a 24-hour race.
300 ℓ urine was gathered, but I used REVERSER.
After the conclusion, I shed in a flush toilet. The two people finished in an hour's work.

The sewage system in urban areas of Japan has excellent purification facilities and is excellent. It is desirable to use manhole as a toilet even for disaster use.
In addition to the toilet, I think that it is necessary to have equipment to take out raw sewage from the plastic bag and wash away it.

Best regard
Shingo Suitsu

tamagawacraft wrote: Dear Carol
Japan was an anniversary of physical education on October 9th. Every year, a trail running race will be held this day. There were 2,600 athletes participating this year.
We operated all the toilets of the convention with 5 staff members. The number of people is concentrated more than the huge earthquake disaster. It was held at night as a 24-hour race.
300 ℓ urine was gathered, but I used REVERSER.
After the conclusion, I shed in a flush toilet. The two people finished in an hour's work.

The sewage system in urban areas of Japan has excellent purification facilities and is excellent. It is desirable to use manhole as a toilet even for disaster use.
In addition to the toilet, I think that it is necessary to have equipment to take out raw sewage from the plastic bag and wash away it.

Best regard
Shingo Suitsu

Dear Shingo,

We can take valuable lessons from your recent trail running race.

1. Large participant sport and other events offer an excellent opportunities to test emergency systems.
   
2. Educate participants and recruit volunteers when they register for the event.
3. Diverted urine is easy to handle and can replace water to flush feces.
4. A small number of volunteers can do most of the work in a well-designed system for operations and maintenance.

Your photos of the event are inspiring. We are always interested in hearing more about Japan's use of and experimentation with 'manhole toilets."

Best wishes,

Carol

Dear Carol
Japan was an anniversary of physical education on October 9th. Every year, a trail running race will be held this day. There were 2,600 athletes participating this year.
We operated all the toilets of the convention with 5 staff members. The number of people is concentrated more than the huge earthquake disaster. It was held at night as a 24-hour race.
Though more than 300 urine gathered, I used REVERSER, and after the conclusion, I went to the flush toilet. Two people finished with an hour's work.
The sewage system in urban areas of Japan has excellent purification facilities and is excellent. It is desirable to use manhole as a toilet even for disaster use.
In addition to the toilet, I think that it is necessary to have equipment to take out raw sewage from the plastic bag and wash away it.

Best regard
Shingo Suitsu

Dear Carol

Japan was an anniversary of physical education on October 9th. Every year, a trail running race will be held this day. There were 2,600 athletes participating this year.
We operated all the toilets of the convention with 5 staff members. The number of people is concentrated more than the huge earthquake disaster. It was held at night as a 24-hour race.
Though more than 300 urine gathered, I used REVERSER, and after the conclusion, I went to the flush toilet. Two people finished with an hour's work.
The sewage system in urban areas of Japan has excellent purification facilities and is excellent. It is desirable to use manhole as a toilet even for disaster use.
In addition to the toilet, I think that it is necessary to have equipment to take out raw sewage from the plastic bag and wash away it.

Best regard
Shingo Suitsu

For those wondering about these man-hole toilets:
global.rakuten.com/en/store/wowsystem/item/mobiletoilet4/

The website also has a bunch of other plastic bag type foldable emergency toilets seats:
global.rakuten.com/en/category/501137/

Dear Tamagawacraft,

Our organization recently got a request for information about Japan's manhole toilets from someone who read an excellent emergency preparation brochure from Japan. It is in English and I am attaching it. Thank you so much for posting photos and additional information on manhole toilets. We are eager to learn more. I was able to translate parts of your article and hope to read more of it and similar documentation in the future. What a great idea to introduce these new manhole toilets at large community events.

PHLUSH tracks emergency sanitation technologies from the east edge of the Pacific Rim so we can inform local authorities in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This is the area that extends from northern California to the tip of Vancouver island in southern British Columbia and is at risk of a 8.5 - 9.0M earthquake. The last earthquake occurred on January 26, 1700 and is documented by Japanese historians and mapmakers, who named it The Orphan Tsunami. They knew it wasn't "born" in a Japanese earthquake and couldn't figure out its origin.

The Big Flood that originated from the quake is also recorded in the oral histories of North American native peoples living along the coast before the arrival of European settlers and other outsiders. In the early 2000s, Brian Atwater of the United States Geological Survey documented geological evidence for a 300-year-old earthquake in soil stratigraphy and submerged "ghost forests". It was only after Atwater traveled to Japan to meet with experts there. that the date of January 26, 1700 was confirmed.

The results of Atwater's collaboration with Japanese historians and geologists appear in a profusely illustrated book called The Orphan Tsunami. It's available online for free download. pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1707 )

For the PHLUSH review of the work please see "Japanese History and the Oregon Megaquake of 1700" www.phlush.org/2012/04/27/japanese-histo...n-megaquake-of-1700/ )

We hope there will be many more Japanese, especially disaster response experts like yourself, who join SuSanA and Working Group 8 and contribute to the Forum. As you may know, people in our area are not as well prepared for a major seismic event as are the people of Japan. The coastal states and the province of British Columbia are taking notice and starting to prepare for a pipe-destroying event. Unfortunately FEMA (the United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency) - which is currently overwhelmed by the devastation of recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico - has not paid attention to emergency sanitation when there are no options for treatment and disposal. (Many of PHLUSH's own guidelines are here: www.portlandoregon.gov/pbem/56765

The information that you and your Japanese colleagues share through SuSanA can save lives in the United States and Canada. Japan has always been a leader in toilet technologies. We look forward to learning from you.

Best wishes,

Carol

Dear JKMakowka
Thank you very much.
In our Japan, "manhole toilets" are proliferating in disaster toilets.

www.21water.jp/G120711-4.pdf

From the experience of the damage caused by our large number of huge earthquakes, we modified the manhole of sewage to be used as an emergency toilet by equipping the water storage facilities immediately after the earthquake.

If REVERSER is installed in the "manhole toilet", it can be brought here and shed even in the toilet at another place. It will be a great force for self-recovery after the earthquake.

The most important thing here is that if you run a plastic bag from manholes into sewers, the underground piping will clog. Also, even when sucking with a vacuum car, hose of 80 mmφ size clogs in the same way, it becomes useless.

We are using a disaster toilet for sports events. The reason is that we are doing disaster drills in order to be useful in actual disasters.

Regards,
Shingo Suitsu

@tamagawacraft: nice pictures and interesting stuff. Although the need to cleanly remove all plastic bags from the waste is probably a bit Japan specific
But do you have any idea how long it took in the past after large urban earthquakes to restore functionality of sewers and waste water treatment plants? It would seem like this could take a while, no?

@all: I updated the wikipedia page with some details on specific settings. It's still lacking source though as it's more practical knowledge from my work. But I guess it shouldn't be to hard to also find some more scientific source for it.

I am also wondering if we shouldn't add a section on preparedness, such as the work tamagawacraft has shared above, or similar work during festivals in Europe...

Dear. Elisabeth

You can do it on your own; human waste treatment!
Sewage of simple toilets cannot be drained into sewers along with plastic bag as it is.
REVERSER is the device that drains the sewage into sewers and takes out only the plastic bag.
Reconstruction after the earthquake requires comprehensive activities that create linkage between the independent actions of victims themselves and self-help, mutual assistance and public assistance from municipalities, central government and NPOs.
We are presenting a human waste flushing equipment that is a sign of self-recovery by “disposing our excretion on our own” instead of entrusting all the reconstruction activities to the administration.

12 years of practical usage in mountain race!
Easier to use and hygienic!

Commonly marketed “Emergency toilet” products are available in various types of designs and mechanisms.
However, most of these products just supply “toilet bowls” out of the entire toilet system. As for the “Emergency Toilets” in Japan, the main practice is to solidify the excretion once using a coagulating agent and later dispose it by incineration. Therefore, when it comes to incineration, it becomes difficult for garbage trucks in disaster-hit areas to operate constantly and the human waste bags get piled up on the street hindering the recovery plan till the garbage disposal facilities are restored.
Our company has been sponsoring the Japan Mountain Endurance Trail Running Race (Hasetsune Cup) for 12 years starting from the year 2006 till date. Also, we have been providing “Pail toilets” that are used as “Emergency Toilets” for sports tournaments on rental basis and thus our employees have exemplified the process of human waste flushing. Still, if an earthquake actually occurs directly beneath the capital city and thereby we try to carry out human waste disposal on our own, at a stage when the water supply and sewerage gets restored and our hands can be washed with the tap water, the “flushing disposal method”, which can drain the excretion into flush toilets and manholes, is considered to be the most realistic and reasonable.








Regards,
shingo Suitsu