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Home > Basic Principles > Child-friendly Design > Facility Design
Design facilities with sufficient capacity to ensure minimal waiting time
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| Figure 2. Calculation of Toilet Capacity in School |
Insufficient water and sanitation facilities will cause children to search for other places to urinate and defecate, to "forget" to wash their hands, and to drink unsafe water. Provision of sufficient capacity is therefore essential.
Using a simple ratio of 20 or 30 students per toilet and 50 students per tap makes the calculation of the appropriate capacity seem straightforward. However, ensuring that the right number of facilities are constructed is usually not a matter of applying a simple ratio. Using more determinants to calculate the number of facilities can help to ensure more cost-effective designs.
The number of facilities can be calculated using the number of students, the school timetable, the ratio of girls to boys, and the expected future growth of the school population. In schools for children up to age 8 or 9, sharing of toilets by boys and girls may be possible.
A sample calculation is provided in figure 2. In situations where urinals for girls are to be constructed, calculating units and urinals for girls is the same as calculating them for boys.
If the budget allows, special toilets may be constructed for teachers and children with physical disabilities. Otherwise, standard designs will have to be adjusted.
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