Biowaste Clean Up

Protect yourself   Cleaning & disenfecting  Disposal 

The City of Albuquerque addresses feces on City property, right of ways, and parks.

Please contact 311 to report concerns on these properties so they can be routed to the correct department.

If feces are on private property, it is the owner’s obligation to clean these areas.

If you are cleaning feces on a sidewalk, building, or roadway, it is important that you do not use water to spray the feces into the storm drains, as these run directly to the Rio Grande River.

Protect Yourself

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention recommends wearing the following personal protective equipment (PPE):

• Gloves to prevent contact and make sure they are water proof - do not use cloth or fabric gloves
• Goggles to protect eyes from the splashing of material
• Protective face mask to protect the nose and mouth from any splashing of materials
• Liquid-repellent coveralls to protect any clothing; and
• Rubber boots

When cleaning up feces always make sure to do the following:

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth, or any open sores or cuts
• Keep any cuts, scrapes, or open wounds covered

Cleaning and Disinfecting

Many bacteria, viruses, and parasites are found in feces.  Illness can occur when microscopic amounts of feces are ingested via the mouth or when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with contaminated hands.

Step 1: Using gloves, pick up any solids and place them into a disposable bag. Removing any solids first will help the disinfectant to work better.

Step 2: For hard surfaces, disinfect the area with either a bleach solution or another U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved disinfectant.

Make sure to follow all directions on the bottle as each disinfectant will have their own instructions.

Don’t use bleach on grass.

Bleach solution should be at a concentration of 200 ppm (2 tsp bleach to 1-gallon of water) for food contact surfaces and 1000 ppm (1/3 cup bleach to 1-gallon of water) for all non-food contact surfaces.

Step 3: Disinfect your PPE. Rubber boots, coveralls, goggles, and face masks worn during clean-up should also be cleaned with the bleach solution, if they are not disposable. Gloves should be disposed of in the garbage.

Step 4: Wash your hands, for at least 20 second using soap and water.

Disposal

Feces can be disposed of in a toilet, porta-potty, or in a sealed bag in the trash.

Contaminated gloves and other disposable protective equipment that cannot be cleaned should be thrown away.