page_title: Outhouse
section_title: Pit latrines
hierarchical_section_title: Outhouse / Design aspects / Toilet types covered by outhouse shelters / Pit latrines
caption_attribution_description: English: Squat outhouse near student's tourist hut in Ropianka, Beskid Niski, Eastern Europe. Polski: Sławojka kucana przy chatce studenckiej w Ropiance, Beskid Niski.
context_page_description: An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure.
  Outhouses were in use in cities of developed countries well into the second half of the twentieth century. They are still common in rural areas and also in cities of developing countries. Outhouses that are covering pit latrines in densely populated areas can cause groundwater pollution.
  In some localities and varieties of English, particularly outside North America, the term "outhouse" refers not to a toilet, but to outbuildings in a general sense: sheds, barns, workshops, etc.
context_section_description: An outhouse often provides the shelter for a pit latrine, which collects human feces in a hole in the ground. When properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation.  When the pit fills to the top, it should be either emptied or a new pit constructed and the shelter moved or re-built at the new location. The management of the fecal sludge removed from the pit is complicated. There are both environment and health risks if not done properly. As of 2013 pit latrines are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people. This is mostly in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas.
caption: Outhouse with squat toilet inside
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