The ‘Re-Invent the Toilet Challenge' (RTTC) conducted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been won by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and Austrian design firm EOOS.
Reinvented Toilet from Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
The objective of the competition in which 22 universities and research institutes participated is to build a toilet system sans sewer and external energy source that forms part of a waste treatment and recycling system and costs within five cents per person per day. By the end of 2011, there were eight teams in the reckoning including those from California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The teams presented their project in Seattle where the Swiss and Austrian designed “Diversion” toilet was adjudged the winner.
The Diversion model works on the principal of separation of urine and faeces in order to recover water from urine and other portions from faeces waste treatment and recycling. The toilet is styled to be a modern squatting toilet acceptable to all users from all cultures. The water consumption is 1 to 1.5 liters per use. No external supply of water is required as the used water is recycled after it is cleansed via a membrane filter and germs are eliminated through electrolysis employing solar powered electrode. An important aspect of the toilet reinvention is the logistics. The Diversion model is equipped with self sealing urine barrels and faeces containers and a vehicle for transport to ensure hygienic and efficient disposal of waste by converting them to biogas or fertilizer in treatment plants. The team is now working towards building real prototype of the toilet.
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