Loughborough University wins prize for its reinvented toilet
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Loughborough University has won $60,000 (£38,000) in a competition organised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a reinvented toilet that is clean, safe, durable and affordable for the poor without the need for connection to electricity or a sewer.
According to a statement, the reinvented toilet should be a viable solution in wealthy nations as well as in the developing world where 2.5 billion people lack access to safe and affordable sanitation.
The prize was awarded to the Loughborough team for its prototype toilet, which aims to convert human waste into carbonised material to provide heat, minerals for soil conditioning and water for flushing and hand washing.
It uses continuous thermal hydrocarbonisation, which kills pathogens to create safe-to-handle material and uses power from heat generated during processing. The toilet is designed to work in both single-family and multi-user contexts, with daily running costs of just a few pence per person.
Three prototype technologies were recognised for most closely matching the criteria for the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge.
Loughborough University has won $60,000 in a competition to develop a reinvented toilet that is clean, affordable and does not require connection to electricity or a sewer
Loughborough was awarded second prize, with the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) and the University of Toronto respectively receiving first and third prizes.
CALTECH’s toilet uses the sun to power an electrochemical reactor. The reactor is said to break down water and human waste into fertiliser and hydrogen, which can be stored in hydrogen fuel cells as energy. The treated water can then be reused to flush the toilet or for irrigation.
The University of Toronto’s toilet uses a sand filter and UV-ray disinfecting chamber to process liquid waste and a smolder chamber to incinerate solid waste that has been flattened and dried in a roller/belt assembly. According to the university, the toilet is sustainable and easy to use and processes waste while protecting the community from contamination.
Readers' comments (8)
Anonymous | 20 Aug 2012 12:35 pm
Good on Loughborough. Proud to be staring my studies there in October! The usage of expelled waste made available by this toilet is extrordinary.
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JohnK | 20 Aug 2012 2:20 pm
Anon.... Staring??
The 'Earth closet' has been around for years and requires no energy input or technological gee-gaws to make it work. It just quietly reduces human waste into highly productive fertilizer over a 12 month cycle.
But; you have to admire the ingenuity of these folks taking some of Bill Gates fortune to devise a series of impractical devices
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Ajaye Jogoo | 21 Aug 2012 8:29 am
Cwian you send me details on this great research.
We are in the construction sector using the green technology for sustainable development and this technology will be a boon to humanity.
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David Claxton | 21 Aug 2012 12:49 pm
Ah, but will there be a bog standard?
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brian M | 21 Aug 2012 1:41 pm
Anon/JohnK - Trouble with the 'Earth Closet' it can't deal with the volume created in the urban environment and even presents problems out in the wild if the users don't co-ordinate their loo places/drinking water sources!
A worthwhile project - or you could simply reduce the population which is of course a more sustainable solution .....
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mike blamey | 21 Aug 2012 7:29 pm
Great concept congratulations to those involved.
Is the solar still still (pardon my pun) in operation/available? I had a project in conjunction with a firm Airbourne Industries (Southend?) who had made the original barrage balloons (hands-up anyone who remembers seeing one as a small child?) to create a means of creating fresh-water out of either urine or sea water. This was to be a part of a downed pilot's emergency kit.
Imagine a thing, like a very small 'blow-up'life-raft with a conical 'roof of transparent PVC. The water to be cleansed was introduced into the bottom -and the item exposed to the sun (desert or open sea places would be good!) There were a series of fabric strips -towelling like- that dipped down into the dirty water The dirty water 'wicked' up these (most being held within the inter-fibre interstices, not the actual cotton-just like happens in the towel you use after your shower) offering a vast surface area that encouraged evaporation in the sun. But instead of just going into the atmosphere the pure water condensed on the inside of the cone and dribbled down into a channel all around the edge. It could be extracted from here and drunk. It did work quite well. Presumably when one is desperate anything is better than no water at all! There was also a psychological aspect. The pilot realised that he was a part of his rescue.
Is there anything here to compliment the Loughborough idea. V nice to see the comment from the undergraduate about to start his time there. Good Luck (and read the question in all exams and tests -many students do not!)
Mike B
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David Martin | 28 Aug 2012 2:48 pm
"...hydrogen, which can be *stored* in hydrogen fuel cells..."?
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ASimple-Man | 30 Aug 2012 10:25 am
What fantastic nonsense. The Centre for Alternative Technology has published excellent plans for a closed composting toilet for many years. We built one and have used it without problems for 10 years. Restoring vital nutrients safely to the soil is top priority. The flush toilet is our civilisation's greatest mistake.
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