Reinventing the Toilet: creating aspirational sanitation solutions that everybody can afford
Frank Rijsberman Former Director Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Global Development Program
Reinventing The Toilet
November 9, 2012 © 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | 2
1775: Cummings invents the flush toilet, i.e. patents the S-bend waterseal that stops the smell and allows people to move toilets indoors
November 9, 2012
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More people today use dry latrines…
Photo: Frank Rijsberman
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What happens when pits are full? Waste returned to the environment – spreading disease
Mechanical emptying
Manual emptying
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
The Sanitation Crisis and Opportunity
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• Sanitation delivers huge impact: no innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health.
• ~2.6 billion people around the world do not have access to ‘improved’ sanitation.
• ~1.1 billion people still defecate in the open.
• Diarrheal disease is the second largest killer of children under 5, with more than 1 million children dying of it every year.
• Conventional sanitation—a flush toilet connected to a centralized sewer system—is affordable only to a small fraction of developing country inhabitants.
• Sanitation for low-income consumers is ‘onsite sanitation’—pit latrines and septic tanks.
To meet the needs of 2.6 billion people without safe sanitation, we must reinvent the toilet and identify new ways to capture, treat, and recycle human waste into energy, fertilizer, and even clean water.
Source: WSTF, Kenya
Shared toilet in Kenyan slum
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Impacts beyond health: Sanitation as a human right
Restricted toilet access increases urinary tract
infections and causes psychological stress for
women.
Women face security risks when going to
defecate at night or early morning (often the
only times it is allowed for them to do so).
Sanitation is linked to menstrual management;
managing menstruation with rags that must be
cleaned and dried in secret restricts movement
and engagement with public sphere (e.g.,
schools).
These costs are hard to quantify, but real.
10 © 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
1. Sanitation Science and Technology: Reinvent the toilet We are funding the development of new tools and technologies, such as latrine
design, pit emptying, sludge treatment and disposal or reuse of waste. We aim to
develop scalable business models and technologies across the sanitation value
chain.
2. Delivery models at scale: Ending Open Defecation (CLTS++) We are supporting efforts to stimulate demand for improved sanitation within
communities; encourage local entrepreneurs to offer a range of affordable,
desirable products; strengthen the policy and regulatory environment; build the
capacity of local government; and, use effective monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms.
3. Policy and Advocacy: Sanitation policies that work for the poor We are investing in advocacy to disseminate successful approaches to sanitation
and encourage changes in policy and funding priorities necessary to accelerate
access to sustainable sanitation.
Although we are now focusing on sanitation, we will continue to support our grantees working in water and hygiene. Going forward, we will provide limited new funding to effective, sustainable
approaches to clean water and safe hygiene with a high potential for scale-up, primarily following up on existing grants.
BMGF Grant Making Initiatives
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Sustainable Sanitation Services
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• Whole Value Chain Approach: containment, emptying, transport, processing, reuse
• Opportunities to improve sanitation service delivery along the entire sanitation value chain.
• Life cycle costing approach – not only initial investment.
• Sanitation service ladder
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Reinventing the Toilet
Reinvent the Toilet: a waterless, hygienic toilet
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Overall Specifications: Affordable: less than $0.05/person/day now, moving
towards $0.01/person/day (endgoal).
Safe: remove all pathogens from the environment.
Appealing: sustained use > 5 years.
User-centered: users create demand.
Sustainable: service providers (public or private) can
recoup complete lifecycle costs (make a business
work).
Moving sanitation products and services to scale
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
REINVENT THE TOILET CHALLENGE
Challenge issued to top-20 universities early 2011
8 grants awarded of $400K each for first year effort
Plus 50 more grants of $100K each
Reinvent the Toilet Fair at BMGF August 2012
Prototypes displayed at Foundation courtyard
Bill Gates personally inspected them and handed out Reinvent the Toilet Awards
First Prize $200K: California Institute of Technology
A solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity
15 © 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
CALTECH: 1st Prize
A solar panel will produce enough power for an electrochemical reactor designed to break down water and human waste into hydrogen gas.
The gas can then be stored for use in hydrogen fuel cells to provide a backup energy source for nighttime operation or use under low-sunlight conditions.
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A self-contained, solar-powered toilet and wastewater treatment system.
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Solar-Powered Toilet & Treatment System
Caltech RTTC Project: Development of a Self-Contained, PV-Powered Domestic Toilet and Wastewater Treatment System
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Prof Michael Hoffmann
CalTech
Fellow, Academy of Science
Winner Toilet Challenge
2nd Prize, Loughborough University, UK
A toilet that transforms feces into a biocharcoal (biochar) through hydrothermal carbonization (decomposition at high temperatures without oxygen and in water) of fecal sludge.
The proposed system will be powered from heat generated by combusting the produced biochar and will be designed to recover water and salts from feces and urine.
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Treatment of solids and liquids
Components
Partial separation
Hydrothermal reactor
Decompression
Final separation
Liquids
Salt removal as appropriate
Water Recycle
From Ion Exchange
From flash drum
Cl2 generated on demand
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
3rd Prize: University of Toronto, Canada
A technology for treating solid waste streams through mechanical dehydration and smoldering (low temperature, flameless combustion) that will sanitize feces within 24 hours.
Urine will be passed through a sand filter and disinfected with ultra-violet light.
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Process Overview
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Sand Filter
UV
Disinfection
filtered liquid
with small particles Smoldering
Belt Drying sand
urine, wash water
diarrheal water
+ some solids
disinfected
water
sterilized
sand
ash
sand
diarrheal solids
fecal solids
ignition <15 W
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Innovative nature and advantages of plasma-driven gasification
• Plasma gasification has not yet been applied to upgrade human waste.
• Cleaner product gas and less char, tars, and soot.
• Efficient conversion of syngas to electricity in solid oxide fuel cells.
• In comparison to other plasma methods, the microwave plasma source has potential for multifold higher energetic mass yield (g. H2 / kWh-1 total electric energy used)1.
• Modular equipment, highly compact, and portable.
1 Jasiński M., “Application of atmospheric pressure
microwave plasma source for production of hydrogen
via methane reforming”, The European Physics
Journal D 54, 179-183 (2009).
RTTC: Upgrading Human Waste CTO Fuel Gas with
Plasma-Driven Gasification—TU Delft, Netherlands
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RTTC : Data and design–mineralization of sanitation wastes
from community ablution blocks—University of KwaZulu-Natal
A three-way-split pedestal will
provide the starting material for
separation and combustion
processes to make water, ash,
and carbon dioxide gas. Data
will be gathered or determined
in order to develop a process
flow diagram and material
and energy balances with
go/no-go criteria to guide
further development.
Processes and Technologies:
Sludge extrusion, drying,
combustion, urine separation,
distillation, reverse osmosis
membrane, micro-/nano -
filtration, and deodorization. University of KwaZulu-Natal reinvented toilet proposed process
flow diagram
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RTTC : Advanced Toilet With On-Site Water Recovery—
EAWAG, Switzerland
Overall concept is based on a shared toilet for four families, which separates bodily waste at the source (Fig. 1, left) and incorporates a logistical concept for transporting diluted urine and dry feces (Fig. 1, center) to a resource recovery plant (RRP) (Fig. 1, right). Filter residuals from the toilet (fig. 2) are then transported to the RRP.”
Fig.1. Community resource recovery
plant for urine diverting toilet
Fig. 2.On-site water recovery by
gravity separation and filtration
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
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RTTC : Novel Pneumatic Toilet—National Univ. of Singapore
Novel pneumatic toilet system
• A decentralized modified pneumatic
urine-diversion dehydration toilet for
small communities (5-6 households).
• Separate collection and treatment of
urine and feces.
• Urine shall be concentrated by advance
adsorption desalination leading to a
fertilizer suitable for reuse in agriculture
and subsequent production of clean
fresh water.
• Feces shall be transferred by
pneumatic system to a nearby central
collection system, dried and
combusted, with the final ashes to be
reused in agriculture.
• The heat generated by combustion
shall be used to provide hot water for
the advance absorption desalination
system resulting in clean potable water.
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Think differently: technologies to process human waste & recover resources
Plasma-driven gasification to fuel gas
Pyrolysis to bio-char
Hydrothermal carbonization and burn
Smoldering & combustion to ash
Solar-powered electrochemical cell
Accelerated dry aerobic digestion
Fermentation to bio-diesel
Struvite (ammonium magnesium phosphate) precipitation from urine
Many more projects ongoing
Some already at stage of implementation for millions (footnote: composting toilet; biogas toilets)
29 © 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Sanitation services: Improved emptying of septic tanks and latrines
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2A: Reinvented FS
Truck
Containment
Storage/
Processing
Fecal Sludge
Emptying/Transport
1. Reinvented Toilet
Household Scale
Integration
Solid Waste
Collection/Transport
2B: Neighborhood Waste
Processing Plant and
Carbon Finance
2C: Reinvented Solid
Waste Cart?
A “retrofit” solution for the “installed capacity”
of latrines and septic tanks
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Enabling Environment
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Community Led Total Sanitation ++ It’s Not About Giving Away Toilets
Sanitation
Supply
• Policy, strategy, and direction
• Partnerships
• Financing
• Institutional arrangements
• Program methodology
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Implementation capacity
Technical training
Financing products
Product development
Marketing training
Small business
training
Sanitation
Demand
Research-based interventions
Marketing of products
and services
Stimulating community
and HH demand
Incentive schemes
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Difficult to get people to give up their “nice” outdoor toilet
32 © 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Top 3 Investment Opportunities
CLTS++, a behavior change program to create demand for sanitation in rural areas:
could serve 50% of the rural population currently without basic service. Demonstrated
to be effective at scale of tens of millions of people. Targeted subsidies for the poor
likely critical .
Sanitation as a Business, latrine emptying and fecal sludge processing services at
an annual cost of US$10 per household: could serve 200 million low-income urban
people, 20% of the latrines currently emptied manually. Product and development
innovation package, key elements have already demonstrated as feasible.
Reinvented Toilet, off-the-grid toilet that processes/recycles human waste at
household scale affordably: could serve a billion low income urban people, 100% of
the latrines currently emptied manually (and potentially many more people).
Research, product development and market development for a product currently at
the proof-of-concept / prototype stage.
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Source: Rijsberman and Zwane, 2012, Water and Sanitation, Copenhagen Consensus 2012
– released 2 May 2012
Economic returns to investment – in terms of public health
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Intervention Investment
(US$ M)
Benefit
Cost
Ratio
People
served
(M)
Risk
CLTS++ 3,000 4-7 600 low
Sanitation as
a Business
320 23-47 200 medium
Reinvented
Toilet
125 40 1000 high
Source: Rijsberman and Zwane, 2012, Water and Sanitation, Copenhagen Consensus 2012
– released 2 May 2012
November 9, 2012 36
Recapping
• Yes, we think the Toilet should be Reinvented
• Longer term we are looking for “the cell phone of sanitation”
– an aspirational product you and I would want to use
• In the short term we will invest in improved sanitation
services serving existing on-site solutions: emptying and
processing of fecal sludge
• Not only technology development – but sustainable
sanitation services / business models
• We also continue CLTS++ work at scale of millions: We are
funding programs that aim to move 30 million people into
Open Defecation Free Communities, primarily in rural areas
• Sanitation: An opportunity to engage for Rotary.
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Thank You
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