A bucket toilet is a basic form of a dry toilet whereby a bucket (pail) is used to collect excreta. Usually, feces and urine are collected together in the same bucket, leading to odor issues. The bucket may be situated inside a dwelling, or in a nearby small structure (an outhouse).
Where people do not have access to improved sanitation – particularly in low-income urban areas of developing countries – an unimproved bucket toilet may be better than open defecation.[1] They can play a temporary role in emergency sanitation, e.g. after earthquakes.[2] However, the unimproved bucket toilet may carry significant health risks compared to an improved sanitation system.[3] The bucket toilet system, with collection organised by the municipality, used to be widespread in wealthy countries; in Australia it persisted into the second half of the 20th century.
Once the basic bucket toilet has been "improved", it evolves into a number of different systems, which are more correctly referred to as either container-based sanitation systems, composting toilets, or urine-diverting dry toilets.
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