sanitation

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The systems and services, such as toilets, sewers and clean water, that keep communities free of waste and disease.

   Grammar: No plural and no a/an: good sanitation, not a sanitation.

   Patterns

   • access to sanitation
   • sanitation in something

   Poor sanitation allows diseases like cholera to spread quickly.

   The charity builds wells and latrines to improve sanitation in rural villages.

   Access to clean water and sanitation is a basic human need.

2. 2noununcountableAmerican

   The work of collecting and disposing of household rubbish in a city.

   Grammar: Often used in the US as a modifier: a sanitation worker, the sanitation department.

   Patterns

   • sanitation worker
   • sanitation department

   The sanitation department collects trash every Tuesday.

   Sanitation workers began their shift before dawn.

   The city raised taxes to pay for sanitation services.

Common combinations

poor sanitation

Poor sanitation in the camp led to an outbreak of illness.

basic sanitation

Many households still lack basic sanitation.

improve sanitation

The government plans to improve sanitation in the slums.

sanitation worker

A sanitation worker cleared the fallen branches from the road.

water and sanitation

The aid project provides water and sanitation to remote schools.

Synonyms and how they differ

hygiene

Hygiene is about personal and household habits such as handwashing, while sanitation is about the public systems that deal with waste and water.

cleanliness

Cleanliness is a general state of being clean and does not imply sewers or waste services as sanitation does.

public health

Public health is a much wider field that includes vaccines and medical care, with sanitation being just one part of it.

Opposites

Word family

sanitary adjective

clean and free from germs

sanitize verb

to make something clean and free of germs

sanitizer noun

a liquid or gel used to kill germs

insanitary adjective

dirty and likely to cause disease

sanitarian noun

an expert in public health and cleanliness

Commonly confused: sanitation or sanity?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sanitation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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