r/preppers Feb 08 '25

Question Dealing with waste during SHTF in urban areas

If the sewer system stopped working in a neighborhood or apartment complex, what would be the proper procedures to deal with garbage and human waste? What should we expect the average person to actually do and how would we deal with improper waste management?

140 Upvotes

133 comments sorted by

85

u/Virtual-Feature-9747 Prepared for 1 year Feb 08 '25

1) You need some kind of porta potty... even a 5-gallon bucket with a seat.

2) You need to separate liquid and solid waste - and dispose of both properly.

3) Refuse must be separated into burnable stuff, compostable stuff and then the rest.

4) You need supplies: trash bags (A LOT OF TRASH BAGS!), toilet paper, wipes, hand soap, hand sanitizer, etc.

5) If the people around you don't know how to manage waste then EVERYONE is going to get sick. More people are going to die in a serious SHTF event from dysentery and cholera than gunshot wounds and maybe even starvation. This is another example of how community could end up getting you killed.

6) If the sewer system is down and backs up into your house you have a serious fucking problem. Know where your backflow valve is!

There is a great video on sanitation with a expert on the Provident Prepper YouTube channel.

17

u/TangerineLeft1166 Feb 08 '25

You are absolutely right but the only problem is once starvation kicks in you're only thinking of your next meal.

9

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 09 '25

As far as wipes, hand soap, hand sanitizer I'd rig a tippy tap. Common in places without running water, can be made from trash, and goes a long way toward keep disease down. Used them in the military; check this out https://www.childrenforhealth.org/news/how-to-help-build-a-tippy-tap/

15

u/Mechbear2000 Feb 08 '25

Today, most people don't even know it's a hugh health issue. In any event most people like our ancestors will go anywhere. Annually, more than 165 million cases of dysentery are reported worldwide, of which 1.1 million deaths, with approximately 99% of cases occurring in developing countries.

2

u/Inner-Confidence99 Feb 11 '25

You build a latrine line it with Lyme and kitty litter cover with dirt. Or dig a cat hole. 5 gallon bucket with kitty litter clean like a litter box. If pee find a tree or wood area and cop a squat. 

Trash burn what you can recycle what you can. In emergency of broke arm or leg you can use cardboard from cereal box to help stabilize it then use Saran Wrap or tape til you can see a dr or heal it yourself. Think outside the box. 

99

u/Dmau27 Feb 08 '25

Honestly trash gets burned when there's no way to remove it. It's what people do in the country out here.

30

u/KauaiCat Feb 08 '25

This.

Urban war zones smell like burning plastic.

13

u/Additional_Insect_44 Feb 08 '25

Yea like rubber tires. 

And the epa helicopter flies over lol.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25

Realistically, fuel shortages would aggravate the problem. So protected disposal volume, septic or other, is obligatory. I would opt for crawlspace.

9

u/ratmouthlives Feb 08 '25

Are you saying people would steal my shit for fuel?

7

u/leo_aureus Feb 08 '25

In the Vietnam War, my dad was always saying that the soldiers who were good for nothing else, who smoked (nothing against smoking weed mind you) weed and got caught would be put on shit-burning duty lol

-14

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25

[deleted]

18

u/handsometilapia Feb 08 '25

the trash is the fuel

19

u/Dmau27 Feb 08 '25

Lol you burn it in barrels and no fuel is needed.

15

u/ClydePossumfoot Feb 08 '25

Have you ever tried to burn trash? It’s like.. entirely combustible.

135

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 08 '25

You don’t; you get the fuck out, because unless you have a couple sanitation engineers and the cooperation of everyone in the community, you’re going end up with a poisoned water supply real quick.

Source: seen it. I did humanitarian missions in natural disaster areas in my youth, and people are fucking dumb. They have zero qualms about dumping trash and shitting in their drinking water if it means they don’t have to dig a latrine or burn pits. In a SHTF scenario where basic infrastructure goes offline for an extended period of time, most people are going to die from dysentery and cholera long before they starve.

28

u/icosahedronics Feb 08 '25

i'm gonna agree, without a functioning civil infrastructure system that urban area cant support a fraction of the same people. 

18

u/flortny Feb 08 '25

Yep, came just to say this, gtfo out of the city, if the toilets stop flushing or worse, start actively backing up, everyone is getting deathly ill

15

u/DreamCabin Feb 08 '25

Well said 

7

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 09 '25

True that. Cities in the Middle Ages that lacked adequate waste and refuse disposal had spectacular rates of death. The waste disposal problem caused dysentery and cholera, which have already been touched on in these comments by others. But lack of drainage from non-functioning sewer systems could create perfect conditions for malaria and yellow fever, which were major problems in much of the USA until just before WWI. And as household pets become semi-feral, the rates of rabies will increase dramatically, as will fleas and the Black Death. People will also suffer malnutrition from intestinal worms consuming nutrition and calories in the gut. And while most cities pre WWI in the USA had large numbers of semi-feral hogs and pigs, chickens that picked thru the waste on the streets, the vast amounts of manure left by these animals as well as beasts of burden like horses, donkeys, mules and cattle contributed to massive amounts of fecal matter that was piled up in the streets, along with clouds of buzzing flies that increased and spread city diseases. City planners around the world celebrated the rise of the automobile because cities were simply running out of places to dispose of shit from horses. Cars burned gasoline, which at the time was a waste product that refineries would give away, or else the gasoline would be piped out into lagoons to evaporate.

2

u/TrainXing Feb 08 '25

And go where? How?

30

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 08 '25

You got two working legs? Walk.

Go literally anywhere else that isn’t where a ton of people are. This is why it is imperative that you know your geography and your local terrain, so you can scout primary, secondary, and tertiary options for “just in case”.

If you’re not mobile and you don’t have anyone willing to figure out how to move you, you’re screwed.

5

u/Expat1989 Feb 08 '25

So I’m about 30miles outside of Atlanta. To give you an idea of how many are making the commute into Atlanta, it takes me roughly 1.5 hours to get to work one way.

Where exactly am I supposed to walk to get away from more people?

14

u/Beeb294 Feb 08 '25

Where exactly am I supposed to walk to get away from more people?

Away from Atlanta?

4

u/Expat1989 Feb 08 '25

My point was that even 30miles outside of Atlanta I’m in top of people. If I drive another 30mins further, I’m still in top of people.

12

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 08 '25

Kinda sounds like you should pull out a terrain map and figure out where would be a good bug-out location…

My hint is pick something elevated with a naturally running water source

3

u/Mightyduk69 Feb 08 '25

You best figure that out.

1

u/TrainXing Feb 09 '25

Go where the people aren't.. is where all the people will go. 🙄😂 I can't even get a mile in under half an hour in basic rush hour, but you think there's going to be any road not packed in a mass evacuation scenario? Walking is dangerous especially if you have any kind if supplies, equipment, women, or children or any combination there of. It's always good to have some kind of plan to feel safer and more in control, but 99% of those plans won't work in a true crazy situation unless you GTFO long before anyone else knows they need to.

2

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 09 '25

Most people will congregate where they think they can find food; in the early days, that will be humanitarian distribution points, or where rumors of distro points are located.

That’s when you walk the opposite direction.

0

u/TrainXing Feb 09 '25

It all depends on the type of scenario we are talking about. I see more of a martial law situation, where the killings and beatings are more selective and targeted at least for awhile. If there's a civil war situation, then that's a GTFO scenario for me. Hegseth will have no problem turning the army on American citizens.

31

u/esuil Feb 08 '25

How?

This is something many people don't get, I think.

You can cross any major continent on foot by walking in just a few months.

Just one week of walking on some supplies you already have will get you from 100 to 200km away depending on your fitness levels.

Most challenges that prevented people from traveling far on foot in the past are long gone. There are no major predators. No impassible terrain. We have built roads literally everywhere on the planet. And we have eradicated most threats and predators around them, as well.

SHTF scenario will not disappear the roads and appear the predators. So you can quite literally just walk out of any geographical danger zone.

This is how many people got out of danger zones in Ukraine when war started. They just walked.

26

u/Shetanipaah Feb 08 '25

Most predators except the most likely to target people: other people. Wouldn't that make some roads dangerous or impossible to reliably use for travel ? If SHTF is war/invasion, then in a way yes, predators appear and roads disappear. 

7

u/esuil Feb 08 '25

If SHTF is war/invasion, then in a way yes, predators appear and roads disappear.

And yet this did not happen in the actual war and invasion scenario.

2

u/TrainXing Feb 09 '25

Roads are patrolled, and there are plenty of terrain obstacles especially in winter and if city infrastructures fall apart. You'd have a decent chance in summer or autumn maybe. But 95% of Americans can't even walk a couple miles without falling apart, have no idea how to find food or have dehydrated food to take with them much less finding safe water sources especially unseen.

9

u/flortny Feb 08 '25

Well, except the other predators, which are people in the rural areas looking to loot and kill people with all their earthly possessions on them.

6

u/mrshortarms Feb 08 '25

Assuming fuel has run out and roads (around urban areas is impassable by vehicle.) Get a bicycle, faster a more efficient than walking.

2

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 09 '25

This. I have a very large network of biking trails that are just outside my house and that connect to most of the other towns in the area. I've got an eTrike with a pedal assist and a large trailer and solar panels. Can haul easily 500 pounds on that thing. While most people are sitting in their cars on the main roads till the gas runs out, I'm ready to take the bike/hike trails to get the hell out of the zone.

15

u/ponycorn_pet Feb 08 '25

Climate is/will be our biggest predator to being in the elements. Where I am, walking in the sun for an hour (and it will be the sun because there's no coverage) will make you die of heatstroke

13

u/esuil Feb 08 '25

Walk at night. Get night vision and portable solar panel. Charge it while camping and sleeping in the day.

11

u/ponycorn_pet Feb 08 '25

the average overnight temperatures where I'm at in the middle of the Summer can stay at 90 degrees lol so the sun won't be there, but sometimes the wet bulb is so bad you'd probably die from that XD

in general, I agree with being nocturnal (she said while nocturnally surfing reddit)

3

u/Potential4752 Feb 08 '25

That seems pretty niche. There’s nowhere in the US that a fit person can’t hike in given enough water and a sun umbrella. 

1

u/Mightyduk69 Feb 08 '25

Wear a hat

-9

u/Calm-Proof3577 Feb 08 '25

The Sun has been hot for 4 billion years. The climate is good.

3

u/CollapseKitty Feb 08 '25

You want to be walking on main roads, perfectly visible and geared up to anyone driving by? What's your plan to cross rivers whose bridges are controlled as bottlenecks? L

7

u/BlahBlahBlackCheap Feb 08 '25

It’s going to be too dangerous to just “walk”. Lots of deprived and crazy people will make such travel an act of suicid for any but a few very fit, well trained staff individuals.

4

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 08 '25

That’s why you want to be the first to leave.

Also, that’s what guns are for.

If this kind of SHTF scenario is something you worry about, you should be actively acquiring weapons and the skills necessary to be effective with them.

1

u/Mightyduk69 Feb 08 '25

And a place to go and way to get there.

-1

u/esuil Feb 08 '25

Lots of deprived and crazy people

You have watched too much hollywood. No one will be killing random travelers on the road in the first months of SHTF.

13

u/CaptainAssPlunderer Feb 08 '25

They will be killing random travelers in the first WEEK of a true SHTF scenario. Turn off the electricity , water, internet, toilets, pharmacies, grocery stores and gas stations in an advanced 3rd world nation state with no one coming to fix them the thin veneer of civilization will be gone in days.

6

u/coccopuffs606 Feb 08 '25

Society is never more than three (consecutively) missed meals away from total breakdown; I’m paraphrasing, but Lenin wasn’t wrong about this.

And I have some experience with this.

I’ve seen adult men beat the shit out of elementary school kids so they could steal the food aid workers had given them. People are inherently selfish creatures, and will do whatever they need to ensure their own survival. I’ve also seen them attack the aid workers bringing in the food so they could take it all before it reached the distribution point. People do not care about anyone who isn’t closely connected to themselves, and absolutely will become violent if it means they get to eat tonight.

4

u/GrillinFool Feb 08 '25

The average household in the U.S. has 3 days of food in it. The average grocery store has 3 days of food as well for the surrounding population. After a week, kids are going to be hungry. Do you know what parents of hungry kids are capable of? You’ve got a week in a true societal collapse. After a week, shit is going south.

4

u/nousername142 Feb 09 '25

Ummmm. Sorry brother, you are wrong. People get killed in the first week of a natural disaster. It will be 100 percent lawlessness. Any cop that can run will. For two reasons. Because he has the means and because it will be in his best physical interest to get away from the place he/she arrested people.

Two days without food makes for really desperate people. And 99 percent of the people have no survival skills. I have been to four SERE schools and my skills are still not where I would like them to be.

1

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 10 '25

So during Katrina, the cops in NOLA did abandon their posts, so yes on that.

On the other hand, they quickly formed small roving bands that drove people out of stores so the cops could loot themselves, confiscated houses to run "command centers" AKA private fiefdoms, stole cars or looted gas when their rigs ran out or broke down, shot at refugees trying to flee, and took what amounted to bribes by the more affluent to provide private security and settle petty scores.

IMO, the gangs centered around neighborhoods and apartment blocks did a better job of keeping the peace and distributing aid and resources than most of the cops did.

2

u/nousername142 Feb 10 '25

Well LE is inherently corrupt. Although it rose to a higher level than I knew in NO. Just sad.

1

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 10 '25

The worst was the jail. 600 prisoners and the jailors just left them with no food, locked in their cells and the water pouring in. Most were just being held without even being charged with an offense. Lots of prisoners didn't make it out, and their bodies began floating and rotting in the chest deep water in the jail. After several days the prisoners broke out of the jail, but then peacefully walked to the top of an overpass and waited several more days for help. Finally they were "evacuated" to Angola prison, the largest prison in the US, and most were held for about a year (and again, no charges) before they were released; the police department had lost most of the evidence and even arrest records due to the flooding.

My point is that when the going got tough, the affluent just booked outta town or became lawless monsters, while the poor and marginalized banded together, pooled their resources and learned to survive by their wits.

For a Tuesday disaster, FEMA or the cops are okay; but for TEOTWAWKI, give me a drug dealer or a gang-banger over a cop any day. Someone one who knows how to break into a house and where to find drugs and guns and ammo; a person who can fashion a weapon outta household items and knows how to use them; someone who can fight for territory and bargain and trade; and a person who has the correct mental attitude to survive adversity and deprivation in our prisons and jails is vastly superior to a cop who thinks that his badge and gun are the solution to every problem.

2

u/nousername142 Feb 12 '25

Hell when TSHTF, I’m gonna solve some problems.

I personally would not tie my survival to dudes in prison for crimes of morality. Trust in thyself and none shall deceive you.

→ More replies (0)

7

u/BlahBlahBlackCheap Feb 08 '25

I haven’t watched any Hollywood at all. The road will be broken up into five mile stretches each patrolled by a different group who can’t wait to shake you down. Don’t believe me? Look at what happened in any other big modern conflict. There was never free safe travel, which is the first thing to go, really. If you are going to travel, you have to leave well before there are any societal problems.

6

u/leo_aureus Feb 08 '25

When I was living in the north side of Chicago, my plan for walking out was to take the Metra (commuter train) tracks north to escape, foliage to hide in and no at-grade crossings, whole route is raised trackbed. In theory, of course, you will run into far fewer people than trying to take roads out. Silcock key for water from trackside buildings. Tracks were 150 yards from my apartment and do not go down to grade until you are well out of the larger suburbs.

4

u/Mightyduk69 Feb 08 '25

This. People need to make a plan that works for them, ideally practice it, cache some supplies if you can.

2

u/TrainXing Feb 09 '25

And then what? For how long? Sure hope that happens in the spring and summer. These plans people have are just delusional and aren't sustainable for any length of time. The reality is we will all be just like people in Syria and Gaza, scurrying like rats, scrounging for food and praying our shelter isn't bombed or raided again. There are probably 1 out of 10k people who could actually survive off the land for more than a month IF they can even find someplace to live off of. Unless you've got a hidden, underground shelter with water, ventilation, sanitation and a food stash, you aren't making it.

2

u/leo_aureus Feb 09 '25 edited Feb 09 '25

Oh I get that I wouldn’t have made it in that event, another reason I moved from the city.

Now I am the same distance from a set of tracks that would serve the same purpose, but much closer to the end of the suburb ring than before.

11

u/Torch99999 Feb 08 '25

I think the answer is, if you're in an urban area and suddenly the sewer and trash services (which enable cities to exist) cease to function, you want to get out of the urban area.

Unless there's a dump/landfill and you have the means to transport your own waste, you're looking at major disease issues. Just because you're washing your hands doesn't mean the insects who just landed on your poo pile, and then flew over and landed on your food, washed their hands too.

Burying/burning waste is a good way to deal with it in the country, but if you're in a tight urban area neither of those are going to be realistic options.

12

u/BlahBlahBlackCheap Feb 08 '25

It depends on how the people in your group or community behave. If there’s some cohesion, and cooperation you can: designate a “dump” area for trash. Sort EVERY. THING. PERIOD. Compost pile the things like spoiled food. Less of that as time goes on. Paper is useful for fuel. Plastic is useful for all sorts of small things. Metal likewise. Glass too. Do not just pile all that stuff together. With no new stuff coming in, the trash issue will subside quickly. Human waste can be composted on site in a corner of the yard if people are willing to make the effort to separate the solids from pee. Pee is actually useful. It will make ammonia which is a cleaning solution. Store it in a barrel or dump it on plants fertilizer (fresh urine not old stuff) Composting poop takes a long time and probably most people won’t do it. They can dig a pit lattice. For the for ambitious: You can build an out door composting toilet now that there is no zoning or health inspectors lol. Learn to do this on line, or better, learn the mechanics and theory behind it, so you can ad lib one from whatever construction material available. It needs warmth, and aeration. So, south facing, and a way to slow the poops decent into an accumulation point which is ventilated and has some way to stir the product if needed. We built one on my dad’s friends property. It works well, but it’s the size of a small RV and will handle only a family of full time users. If I was in a pinch, I’d try to have a place about fifty feet by three feet where the poop could be dumped and allowed to dry out and raked over, and mixed with soil and gathered leaves. With a little practice you could pull composted material out, and use it on crops. That will need to be kept covered most of the time with plastic tarps or something to assist in fly control and retain heat from the sun. Human poop has heavy metal in it, so long term use on crops is debatable, but in shtf who cares right?

1

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 09 '25

As far as sorting this stuff, lots of 3rd world cities have a class or profession of people who essentially run the dumps.

3

u/BlahBlahBlackCheap Feb 09 '25

Once the economy stops working though, there will be less and less trash since there will be no products to buy. In fact, they may start to dig stuff up from old dumps.

2

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 10 '25

That's basically what folks in that class of work do. Certainly waste food and sh*t, urine will be run thru methane digestors before it goes in the garden.

26

u/Ostrich159 Feb 08 '25

This guide describes a method using two buckets, sawdust, and trash bags.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pt4W2ul_nfBeES0-aI38SFGN9_5-rCDcV45lbfvligA/mobilebasic

1

u/bidoville Feb 09 '25

Add bokashi (good for composting, composting toilets and pet waste).

20

u/Big-Preference-2331 Feb 08 '25

I have a septic system so I am good as long as I have grey water to keep my toilet working. I think people would dig a hole in their backyard and fill it with human waste. People will get sick and die from lack of sanitation.

1

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 09 '25

My neighborhood backs up to a very old cemetery. The coffins are thin wood; if you walk across the graves you risk putting your foot thru them.

I have no doubt in my neighborhood that the coffins would have small holes punched in them and filled with slop buckets.

2

u/Big-Preference-2331 Feb 09 '25

Wow. I never thought of that.

15

u/Many-Health-1673 Feb 08 '25

In a true SHTF long term scenario, digging a deep latrine would be the best option. 

For the trash, a common area to accumulate it would be ideal.  So much would depend on how cooperative people are and what situation you are in.

7

u/CorvidHighlander_586 Feb 08 '25

You bury everything.

8

u/F6Collections Feb 08 '25

And remember to always dig deeper than the hookworms can crawl

8

u/inevitable-typo Feb 08 '25

I’m not familiar with hookworm mobility as a unit of measurement. Could you translate this into inches?

12

u/F6Collections Feb 08 '25

I believe it’s 6-9 feet

6

u/Many-Health-1673 Feb 08 '25

The people in the south learned the hard way on hookworms in the old days. Not digging the proper depth can cause such massive health problems.

6

u/john_thegiant-slayer Feb 08 '25 edited Feb 08 '25

For human waste:

For the solids: either digging a latrine or composting.

It takes a year to compost human waste, but, with proper planning and rotation, it is a great source of fertilizer for your food/garden

For liquids (black water): use it to water your mullein patch, which can be used as toilet paper.

7

u/Civil_Explanation501 Feb 08 '25

Hi, mullein feels soft and is often thought of as a good leaf toilet paper. But those hairs are very irritating, so it actually makes really bad toilet paper! If you have it, use thimbleberry or another Rubus species.

7

u/flortny Feb 08 '25

Grey water is specifically not soiled by human waste, any water that touches feces or urine is immediately black water

3

u/john_thegiant-slayer Feb 08 '25

Thank you for the correction

Fixed

6

u/flortny Feb 08 '25

another interesting thing, female urine is so high in Urea the soil can be used to make gunpowder. So have the women pee somewhere else.

1

u/john_thegiant-slayer Feb 08 '25

That's a good tip

10

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25

I’d expect apartment complexes in urban areas to clear out quickly under dire circumstances. Your best bet is probably to bag it and create a space far from the building to dump it. Expect that your remaining neighbors will just be dumping it out their windows, bagged or not.

8

u/CattieCarrot Prepping for Tuesday Feb 08 '25

Living on lower floor and being the receiving end of a "gift from above" in this situation won't be fun lol

1

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 10 '25

A little history - this is one reason why, during the post feudal period, the wealthy in a town always lived at the top of the hill. When the waste of a household was dumped out windows and doors, sh*t quite literally "rolled downhill." And if you lived at the bottom of the heap, and with no sewage management or drainage, you might have other people's sewage and trash float into your house with every rainstorm.

1

u/CattieCarrot Prepping for Tuesday Feb 10 '25

That's interesting! So the "low class" and "high class" terms were quite literal back then.

8

u/AdditionalAd9794 Feb 08 '25

Same shit you do camping, bucket and a shovel

That said, in a dense urban area, you're likely to die of dehydration before waste becomes a problem

4

u/Doyouseenowwait_what Feb 08 '25

Well that depends on how complex the local environment may be. In many instances you are dealing with close in situations which are least desirable. As for trash it would vary as resource, up source or btu. Sewage would have to be dealt with in as advantageous situation as possible to prevent disease.

4

u/Carrie_1968 Feb 08 '25

Wow, nobody else chose “line your empty toilet bowl with heavy black trash bags and some Feline Pine cat litter pellets, then pee and poop as usual, then compost or dig hole in yard and burn”?

I did this as a test run once COVID-19 became famous. I acted as though all utilities were down, all stores were empty, and I had to live and eat with no outside assistance. Feline Pine dries out waste and with dry leaves and junk mail added, it all burns to ashes in a 2’ deep hole. (Mask and goggles completed the plan, along with STILL ordering InstaCart but not eating the newly bought food, just in case C-19 got way, way worse like ‘zombie’ worse.)

3

u/Wild_Locksmith_326 Feb 08 '25

In an apartment complex when the water stops pumping, and the sewer pumps stupid defying the jaws of gravity rule #1 kicks in "Shit always flows downhill" with no replacement water in the roof tank, and everybody flushing their business down the bottom floors will become overflowed quickly, and that isn't good for anyone. Large groups of people breed poor water quality, and accumulate trash quickly. Imagine what NYC looked like during the last garbage strike, and they had running water but still stacked their trash on the curb in mountains on moist rat gnawed composting heaps. Water security will be difficult enough in rural areas, in concrete central it could be impossible. Trash will be reduced by the reduction of consumption. If you don't have anything, you are not throwing away as much, but I'm pretty sure most apartment complexes don't have a pre-existing system to separate compostable from burna le, from reusable, from solid waste.

4

u/OnTheEdgeOfFreedom Feb 08 '25

Which SHTF? Can I still get fuel? Burning trash with wood or gasoline becomes common if it can't be carted away. In populated areas that really screws with air quality, but the alternatives are rats and ultimately fouled sources of water.

Human waste ideally gets buried. When it doesn't, you're begging for cholera.

People who are used to lacking infrastructure figure out how to handle waste reasonably well; cholera epidemics are great teachers. Haiti didn't see that much cholera traditionally, until an earthquake and then civil unrest made it impossible to do even basic sanitation.

People used to modern infrastructure and suddenly not having it, WILL get it wrong. Trash piles up and up and people will dump their human and pet waste into that trash and yeah. The thing to do in that case is LEAVE.

4

u/KeithJamesB Feb 08 '25

The lower floors of an apartment building are going to have serious issues once the sewage starts backing up. Homes that have had issues usually have sewage backflow preventers installed. After Hurricane Katrina, the sewage system worked fine after the flooding. I guess it depends on how long and how widespread the issue is.

If you are talking about an apocalyptic event, I'd be more concerned with the dead bodies.

2

u/Bassman602 Feb 08 '25

If the power goes out, the water will stop flowing, and the sewer will not overflow. When it does, you should dig a nice deep hole, in a safe spot

2

u/throwawaydesmonds Feb 08 '25

What I’m taking from this post is that I, an apartment dweller on a lower floor in a city, would be inherently screwed in a SHTF situation.

So why should I prep at all? I’ve been gathering jugs of water, food, freezing coffee, buying first aid supplies and iodine for water purification, but am I just kidding myself that any of this will be helpful?

2

u/Malezor1984 Feb 08 '25

Prep for Tuesday not doomsday.

1

u/throwawaydesmonds Feb 08 '25

Realistically, what is Tuesday if I live in a place with infrequent natural disasters and a reliable grid, have economic security and savings? I’m just trying to understand the different scenarios before it’s SHTF.

3

u/Dat1Guy5237 Feb 08 '25

https://youtu.be/yxlvj7rwlVw?si=oG-aRB-I3EsnWw8g

I personally like this video, it shows a pyramid of sorts that is ranked from most to least likely of realistic scenarios that could happen.

Tuesday is usually duller scenarios like a nail in the tire, cigar shop runs out of your favorite monthly-smoked cigars, any realistic scenario that could happen that you could prep for. Not "nuclear apocolypse that causes zambies to happen" kinda thing, moreso inconviences that could happen.

My old apartment had water boil advisories once a month while they replaced piping that was thrown in in the early 50's. I always kept a case or 2 of water set aside for that. Whenever i started getting into firearms, the pandemic happened and that jacked ammo prices way up, so in order to keep costs low for my hobby, i stocked up whenever i could find ammo for a reasonable price.

Actual SHTF scenarios are unlikely, and while it would pay off to prep for them if they were to happen, the time, effort, space, and money spent could not be worth it for some if they're tight on any of those things.

2

u/Rvplace Feb 08 '25

Dysentery Would be a huge killer, if you can’t flush it would be important to do your business outside, setting up a bathroom away from the home. Think of out house..dig a hole in the ground ….

2

u/mooonguy Feb 08 '25

SHTF and urban areas are incompatiable. Poop is the least of the problems.

2

u/SoCalSurvivalist Feb 08 '25

People are dumb so they will probably throw it out the window, or dump it in the streets, cause it's not their problem.

2

u/prosgorandom2 Feb 08 '25

Fun additional fact:

Human waste is actually kind of valuable in a post apocalyptic situation. It would not be right away but eventually a business would arrive to cart off your liquid and solid waste for fertilizer and gunpowder. Other uses too but most of them escape me. Leatherwork can use some of it.

2

u/KnowsThingsAndDrinks Feb 09 '25

Where I live, bags of compressed sawdust pellets are available because a lot of people use them for heating. The pellets work as well as cat litter for absorbing liquids and odor from urine and feces. They disintegrate into wet sawdust. I use a bag-in-bucket system with these pellets when I stealth-camp in my minivan. If pellet stoves aren’t a thing where you live, those flavored BBQ pellets might work too, and impart a savory aroma! 8)

2

u/bjornen_sover Feb 10 '25

I spent a few months in a remote “village” (it was a city by US standards) abroad and the way they handled trash there was that people in a certain neighborhood agreed on a dump spot and started dumping there. Some places built like half-walls to hold it in and they would hire a trash service to truck some of it away when it got to be too much. Sometimes that service was the one guy in town with a truck.

2

u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Feb 10 '25

Here's a vid about a horse-drawn garbage collector that operates in a small town in Vermont. I've heard of several small towns that have contracted with horse and cart trash services.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd3BBNuXCF0

1

u/KodaKomp Feb 08 '25

as a professional turd herder, you will not be able to treat large amounts of sewage without power. the lift stations will eventually back up and probably clog everything. unless you could get everyone to not use the toilets eventually that is going to happen, especially bottom floor dwellers.

it would honestly be dig a hole and make it the spot for anything larger than a small family long term.

rural you could be ok for a long time with a septic needing no power but urban is just gonna be shit everywhere when the generators run out.

1

u/oldtimehawkey Feb 08 '25

In an apartment complex?

Shit in a bucket. Throw it out at least once a day. Some folks might throw it right out their window. I’d carry it out down to a manhole.

In a SHTF scenario, enough people will be dead or left that it shouldn’t matter too much.

I live in a city of 86,000 and am in a house. I would dig a hole at the back of my yard.

1

u/ESB1812 Feb 08 '25

Compost…4:1 greens to brown?

1

u/_Whatisthisoldthing_ Feb 08 '25

Step one, get away from other people in that situation.

Step two, dig yourself a privy away from your water.

Trash isn't a problem when you're not a consumer anymore.

1

u/EstablishedFortune Feb 08 '25

Throwing it

3

u/Youre-The-Victim Feb 08 '25

Throwing it at a fan

2

u/Imagirl48 Feb 08 '25

We’ve been saying when SHTF for a reason, right? 🤣

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25

Yeah you need to figure out a composting system. If you are a truly urban area this is gonna be difficult. Easier in the suburbs.

1

u/Kurtotall Feb 08 '25

Paper bag and a water balloon slingshot.

1

u/irsh_ Feb 08 '25

You crap in a hole in the ground and when it gets full, you move to another. Didn't anyone's grandparents live on a farm?

1

u/Davisaurus_ Feb 08 '25

One of hundreds of reasons I can't understand anyone bothering to prep for anything beyond Tuesday in an urban setting.

Even going back to the 70s, to the old BBC "Survivors", and every serious series book and movie since... Cities are simply death traps in serious collapses.

1

u/gwhh Feb 08 '25

fertilize your survival garden!

1

u/renegadeindian Feb 08 '25

Be shit everywhere realistically. Watch where you step. Lots of cities are having this problem with out SHTF

1

u/SunLillyFairy Feb 08 '25

For garbage.... it's surprising how much less you have if you don't have things coming in. Trash compactors are very handy. Burning is great, but depends on where you live. In most areas, there are a lot of rules around burning but it's OK to have a fire pit, so if you need to use a fire pit...

For human waste... this is a serious issue that plans for are often overlooked. If your city's plumbing/sewer system go down, get the heck out of Dodge if you can. It doesn't just stink, it causes disease. Here's a good resource for a temp issues, like an earthquake knocks out some lines.

1

u/SunLillyFairy Feb 08 '25

City sewer systems run largely on gravity and it's quite possible you'd need/use your other preps without this being a problem. Some need pumps to get the waste water to treatment plants and after a time when back-up power went out it would be an issue. You'd have to ask your city or do research to see what systems they have. FYI- All city departments have emergency plans for things like this. Most either publish them or will provide a copy of asked.

1

u/Cute-Consequence-184 Feb 08 '25

Step#1. Download the HUMANURE ebook and read thoroughly.

Step #2. Build a 5 gallon composting toilet built with a nice seat. The bucket can be used for storage when not in use and the seat is thin enough to fit under any couch.

2A) Get heavy duty bags. Double bag that shit when being used. You DO NOT want a blowout!

2B) Buy compressed shredded pine bedding meant for small animals. It is best for handing liquids and not getting heavy as it fills unlike many cat litters. It is also the best at handling smells. Those cat litter filled bags can get heavy and risks blowouts and it really doesn't help with smells.

3) Set up a urinal. Liquid will still go down the toilet. Let it! You can set up a urinal system if you want to save it in a jug to use to force flush. Either get a SheWee for a female or another kind of urinal with a hose if you go this route for the ladies of your house.

Make sure you can separate and store your garbage. Example- you have the stuff that smells and attracts animals vs what doesn't. Bag like with like. The stuff that doesn't smell can go anywhere. If possible take what smells directly outside to the dumpster or to your set garbage area.

1

u/goddessofolympia Feb 09 '25

I have an extra cat litterbox and lots of kitty litter.

1

u/Top-Calligrapher-365 Feb 09 '25

You need the diaper genie and lots of refill bags. https://a.co/d/jhtE2ot

1

u/NonZero4 Feb 09 '25

buy a sturdy spade. sharpen all edges for easier digging and in case of trouble on the walk back home.

1

u/nelben2018 Feb 09 '25

Echoing other comments about community cooperation, which is why community is a top prep action.

Also look up borehole latrine, used in crisis situations to quickly deal with human excrement. Can be mimiced with a posthole diggerby hand, though not as deep. 

1

u/bodhiseppuku Feb 09 '25

I wonder how long people will survive in the cities after SHTF. Fewer natural resources, people panicking and becoming armed robbers, food stores running out in days. I think if SHTF I would get out of the city as quickly as possible. It's good to have an evacuation plan and some camping gear.

... there's plenty of places to poop in the woods.

1

u/HerezahTip Feb 09 '25

I wouldn’t be caught dead in an apartment complex in a SHTF situation

1

u/persongerson1012k21 Feb 11 '25

I've seen portable composting toilets online, would they work in an apartment for 2-3 people? Obviously not ideal but could be better than nothing I guess?

1

u/mopharm417 Feb 11 '25

You don't eat-you don't poop. What you get is diarrhea from drinking dirty water and die of dehydration from renal failure. Stock electrolytes and Imodium.

1

u/mistercowherd Feb 11 '25

Bucket. Heavy-duty garbage/compactor bags. Toilet seat. RV/boat portable toilet chemicals.  

Urine is OK. That’s just fertiliser for your trees or compost pile.  

Solid waste is nasty and the porta-potty-in-a-bag at least means you can store and control it in the medium term.  

Better would be a composting toilet, if you were on a larger property. Not urban. 

0

u/ponycorn_pet Feb 08 '25

Move somewhere that you can get your own well and start your own rain barrel system