Home sanitation and handwashing: a family guide
Clean toilets, proper handwashing and good waste habits stop most household disease in its tracks. A practical sanitation and hygiene guide for Nepali homes, including toilet care, the right way to wash hands, and keeping the kitchen safe.
Safe water alone does not keep a family healthy. Most stomach illnesses spread by a simple route: germs from faeces reach the mouth through unwashed hands, dirty surfaces, flies and contaminated food or water. Break that chain with good sanitation and handwashing, and you prevent a huge share of diarrhoea, typhoid, worms and other infections.
Nepal has made big progress on sanitation — many districts and the country as a whole have been declared open-defecation-free, and most homes now have a toilet. But having a toilet is not the same as using and maintaining it well, and handwashing with soap is still skipped at the moments that matter most.
This guide is about the everyday habits that protect your household: keeping the toilet clean and safe, washing hands properly and at the right times, handling food and waste hygienically, and teaching children so the habits stick for life.
Understand how germs spread (and how to block them)
Picture the germs in human or animal faeces trying to reach someone's mouth. They travel along a few main routes: fingers, flies, fluids (water), fields/floors/surfaces, and food. Public-health workers call these the routes you must block.
The strongest blocks are: a clean toilet that contains the faeces, handwashing with soap (which stops fingers carrying germs), safe water and food, and keeping flies and waste away from where you cook and eat. You do not need to do anything fancy — just block each route consistently.
Keep your toilet clean and safe
A toilet only protects health if it is used by everyone, kept clean, and seals the waste away from flies and groundwater. A neglected or broken toilet can become a source of disease rather than a barrier to it.
Whether you have a flush toilet or a pour-flush pit latrine, the basics are the same: keep it clean, keep it covered, and keep handwashing right next to it.
- Clean the pan and floor regularly with a brush and disinfectant; flush or pour enough water to clear waste fully.
- Keep the squat hole or pan covered when not in use to block flies and smell.
- Make sure everyone uses the toilet — including children; dispose of small children's faeces straight into the toilet, never in the open or rubbish.
- Place soap and water (or a handwashing station) right at the toilet so washing hands afterwards is automatic.
- Keep the pit or septic tank a safe distance from your well or water source, and maintain it so it does not overflow, especially in the monsoon.
Wash hands the right way, at the right times
Handwashing with soap is one of the cheapest and most powerful health measures there is — but only if you use soap, scrub long enough, and do it at the critical moments. A quick splash of water alone removes very little.
The 'when' matters as much as the 'how'. If you only remember a few times, remember: after using the toilet, after cleaning a child, and before preparing or eating food.
- Wet your hands with clean water.
- Apply soap (any soap works) and rub palms, backs of hands, between fingers, fingertips, thumbs and under the nails.
- Scrub for about 20 seconds — roughly the time to hum a short tune.
- Rinse well under running or poured water (don't dip both hands into a shared bowl).
- Dry with a clean cloth or air-dry; a dirty shared towel re-contaminates clean hands.
The five critical handwashing moments
Pin these moments up in the kitchen or teach them to children as a rhyme. Washing at these times blocks almost all of the faecal-to-mouth route.
- After using the toilet.
- After cleaning a child or changing a baby.
- Before cooking or preparing food.
- Before eating or feeding a child.
- After handling rubbish, animals, or coming home from outside.
Kitchen and food hygiene
Food is a common bridge for germs, especially in warm weather when bacteria multiply fast. A few habits keep your kitchen safe without much effort.
Pay special attention during the monsoon and hot Terai summer, when cooked food spoils quickly and flies are everywhere.
- Wash hands, utensils and surfaces before and after preparing food, and keep raw meat separate from other food.
- Cook food thoroughly and eat it hot; reheat leftovers fully and don't keep cooked food at room temperature for long.
- Wash fruit and vegetables in safe (treated) water; for things eaten raw, use water you would be willing to drink.
- Cover food to keep flies off, and keep the kitchen, dishes and chopping boards clean.
- Use safe, treated water for cooking, washing produce and making drinks and baby formula — not just for drinking.
Household waste and drainage
Rubbish and stagnant water around the home attract flies, rats and mosquitoes, all of which spread disease. Managing waste is part of sanitation, not separate from it.
Keep solid waste in a covered bin and dispose of it properly rather than dumping it in drains or rivers, which clogs them and worsens monsoon flooding. Keep drains around the house flowing, and do not let water pool — stagnant pools breed the mosquitoes that spread dengue and malaria as well as breeding flies.
- Keep a covered rubbish bin and empty it regularly; separate and compost food waste if you can.
- Never throw waste into drains, rivers or the street — it spreads germs and blocks drainage.
- Clear and unblock the drains and gutters around your home, especially before the monsoon.
- Tip out or cover any standing water (old tyres, pots, blocked gutters) weekly to deny mosquitoes a place to breed.
Key takeaways
- ✓Most household illness spreads from faeces to mouth via hands, flies, water and food — block each route.
- ✓A toilet only protects health if it is used by all, kept clean and covered, and has soap and water beside it.
- ✓Wash hands with soap for about 20 seconds, not just a splash of water.
- ✓Remember the five critical times: after the toilet, after cleaning a child, before cooking, before eating, after rubbish/animals.
- ✓Use safe water for cooking and washing produce too, not only for drinking.
- ✓Manage waste and clear drains; standing water and rubbish breed flies and disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Home Sanitation & Handwashing — FAQ
Is hand sanitiser as good as soap and water?+
Soap and water is best, especially when hands are visibly dirty or greasy, and it physically removes germs and dirt. Alcohol-based sanitiser is a useful backup when no water is available, but it does not remove dirt and works less well against some germs. Use soap and water whenever you can.
We have a toilet but it smells and attracts flies — what's wrong?+
Usually the squat hole or pan is left uncovered, the water seal is broken or dry, or the pit/septic tank needs attention. Keep the hole covered, pour enough water to maintain the seal, clean regularly, and have the pit or tank emptied before it overflows. A working water seal is the key to blocking smell and flies.
How do I teach children good hygiene habits?+
Make it routine and fun: wash hands together before meals and after the toilet, keep soap and water at child height, and use a song to time the 20 seconds. Children copy adults, so consistent example matters more than telling. Praise rather than scold to build the habit.
Where should a toilet pit be placed relative to a well?+
Keep the pit or septic tank as far as practical and downhill from any well or water source, so contamination does not seep into your drinking water — a separation of several metres is commonly advised, and more on sloping or sandy ground. If unsure, ask your local government's WASH or health staff for guidance for your area.
Why does waste in the drain matter for my health?+
Rubbish thrown into drains and rivers blocks them, causing water to back up and flood during the monsoon, and rotting waste breeds flies, rats and mosquitoes that spread disease. Proper disposal keeps drains flowing and your surroundings — and water sources — cleaner.
Sources & data note
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