In developing countries groundwater is commonly withdrawn from shallow wells (up to 20 meter depth) due to technical reasons of the hand pumps. This shallow ground water is very high endangered from pollution from PIT latrines, where high concentrations of human faeces and urine percolate into the ground.

The following picture shows a PIT latrine next to a housing area. Approximately 30 meter down the hill a small spring is used for domestic consumption. Water quality probes have been analysed and show high concentration of coli-bacteria.