c. Pail Strainer. A pail strainer may be made by boring holes in the bottom of
an old metal pail or can and filling it with grass or straw. This strainer will remove
coarse particles of food and a small part of the grease. It may be used on top of the
barrel grease trap instead of the burlap strainer.
6-19. OTHER WASTE WATER
Every device that is used for washing or drinking in the field should have a
soakage area of some kind under it to prevent pools and mud from forming. The area
under and a few inches around individual handwashing devices, wash racks, and Lyster
bags should be excavated a few inches and filled with small, smooth stones to form a
soakage pit for spillage (figures 6-11, 6-12, 6-13, 6-14). Wastewater from wash racks
should pass through a grease trap before it enters a soakage pit or soakage trench
(figure 6-14). A soakage pit or soakage trench should also be used with each field
shower device; however, no grease trap is required under showers.
6-20. DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE
a. Burial.
(1) On the march, in bivouac, or in camps of less than one week's duration,
garbage is normally buried in pits or trenches. For this purpose, a pit four feet square
and four feet deep is suitable for one day for a unit of 100 men. At the end of the day or
when filled to within one foot of the surface, the pit should be sprayed with insecticide
and filled in with earth and mounded over with an additional foot of compacted earth.
Compacting the earth is very important; it helps deny flies and rodents access to the
garbage that has been added during the day.
(2) Sometimes a continuous trench 2 feet wide and 4 feet deep may be
used for the burial of garbage, the length of the trench depending on the length of time it
is to be used. In the operation of this trench, the dirt that is removed to extend the
trench is used to cover the garbage that has been added during the day.
(3) Pits or trenches should not be over 30 yards from the food service area.
Garbage should not, however, be buried closer than 100 yards to any source of water
used for cooking or drinking.
b. Incineration. Garbage and rubbish may be burned and reduced to an ash
which may be used for fill, but the burial method is better and should be used whenever
possible. If burial is not practicable, an incinerator may be constructed for use in the
field.
MD0008
6-25