Future-oriented elementary school

It’s that time of year when our children go back to school. We usually focus on what teachers they will have, how many students will be in their classes or how safe it will be to get to school. One aspect that is often overlooked is the sanitary conditions in the schools.

In the south-west of France, an elementary school in Saint-Germé took the bold step in 2012 of installing dry toilets in its new school building. The toilets look just like the ones we are all used to. However, they work without water and no flushing is necessary. There are 5 urinals and 7 cubicles. The remaining gray water from hand washing is treated in reed beds.

According to the principal, the toilets have proved very popular with the children. They used them in the same way as the flush toilets and there were no adjustment problems.

The cleaning staff were also very happy with these toilets. They felt that they were easier to clean and that the facilities were generally less dirty.

Although it was initially difficult to convince the local authorities to try these new ways, the mothers in the city council seem to be very open to this concept. The mayor emphasized that critics feared the number of pupils in this school would decrease if flush toilets were not available. Surprisingly, the opposite was the case: more parents want to send their children to this school because it follows a philosophy of sensible use of resources.

It was also a step in the direction of health. Thanks to the new toilets, there have been no major outbreaks of gastroenteritis at the school. Even though there had been repeated infections in the past.

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Source: https://www.pierreetterre.org/toilettes-seches-publiques-a-lecole-de-saint-germe-ou-en-est-on/

Photo: https://www.pexels.com/de-de/foto/kinder-sitzen-auf-braunen-stuhlen-im-klassenzimmer-4019754/