All privies require periodic attention. Seats and covers should be
washed weekly with soap and water or with disinfectants, such as
cresol, pine oil, and hypochlorite or chloride of lime. These have
deodorant properties and are available at most grocery or drug stores.
Druggists generally carry a more refined product and consequently the
price is higher.
During the fly season fly and mosquito eggs will be destroyed by
pouring half a pint of crude oil, crankcase oil, fuel oil, kerosene, or
borax solution (1 pound powdered borax dissolved in about 10 gallons of
water) over the contents of the pit about once a week.
[Illustration: Figure 15.--Pit privy of all-wood construction. The
sills and riser of this type should either be treated or made of
cypress, redwood, cedar, locust, fir, or other decay-resistant wood.]
Odors from privy pits and vaults can be reduced by covering the
contents with dry earth, ashes, manure, or sawdust. These materials
fill up the pit rather quickly, but can be used where other deodorants
are not available. Sometimes two cakes of yeast dissolved in 2 gallons
of water are effective in reducing odors. Commercial deodorants are
available from suppliers of disinfectants.
If a person in the family has typhoid fever or is a carrier of that
disease or has dysentery, it is advisable to disinfect the excreta.
Fire, live steam, boiling water, and such chemicals as caustic
soda (sodium hydroxide), caustic potash (potassium hydroxide), or
hypochlorite or chloride of lime may be used. The heat generated by the
slacking of quicklime is also effective. Best results are obtained if
the infected material is treated prior to depositing it in the privy.
Further advice may be obtained from physicians, local health officers,
or State health departments.