Water, Sanitation, Hygiene: Street Plan

Step 1. Meet with your neighbors to talk about the need to store water. When you do the Ready Your Street program, be sure to inventory local water supplies, like ponds and pools. Also be sure to come up with a system for using the water in your local area. For example, how will you get water out of your pool and treat it if you plan to use it for cooking or drinking?

Step 2. Determine if each household will store its own water or if your street will collectively store water. The shared approach can be especially helpful in an apartment building with little storage room in each apartment. You might have a large communal area that would be better for storage of water. Consider putting rain barrels on your apartment building roof. 

Step 3. If possible, store more water than you think you will need to help out neighbors who run out.

Step 4. Talk with your neighbors about managing waste after a disaster. Is there a safe place where you can all store your waste, like an empty shed or garage or fenced-off alley? Make sure that everyone understands the importance of neighborhood sanitation to prevent the spread of disease.

Step 5. Make sure you and your neighbors have a plan for transporting dead bodies to the Disaster Hub. Keeping them in your area may result in contamination of aquifers and disease.

Step 6. You might want to make a plan with neighbors for creating shared pee/poo tents and shower tents to save having to store duplicate items. For example, if you live in an apartment building, you could set up two privacy tents in the alley, courtyard, or garden area, one to serve as a bathroom and one as a shower. You can also agree on spots for pit latrines. Post-disaster, plant a fruit tree where the latrine was.