Agriculture
September 10, 2021
Updated on August 9, 2021
·Created on August 5, 2017
The Change: Waterless Toilet is a standalone unit that dries feces and vaporizes urine.
The Water Lab toilet prototype is a stand-alone dry toilet. It has a polymer membrane inside its storage container that dries out the excreta and vaporizes the liquid so that waste volumes are reduced. No energy input, external storage, or water input is necessary. The toilet is targeted towards refugee camps in the first phase, but commercialization of the product to households and construction sites is planned for the future.
Market Suggested Retail Price
$350.00
Distributors / Implementing Organizations
The Waterless Toilet is currently a prototype but Water Labs plans to sell the product to NGOs and governmental agencies that will implement the product in emergency settings. They aim to provide waste management companies with toilets for their sanitation services. Water Labs intends to sell directly to end users as well.
Manufacturing/Building Method
Change: Water Labs is fundraising to secure the scale of manufacturing, and is developing partnerships with low-cost manufacturers in Asia.
Intellectural Property Type
Patent Protected
User Provision Model
Partnerships are made with the donors community so that NGOs and government agencies can buy and provide the toilets in emergencies. Water Labs are also discussing sales with waste service companies that rent out toilets to households. Direct sales to customers are also planned in a later phase.
Distributions to Date Status
A pilot test was completed in Uganda.
Toilet type
Container-based service
Evacuation method
Dry
Storage conditions
Container storage
Capacity (L)
Unknown
Time until emptying
Once every three weeks
Design Specifications
The toilet is a stand-alone unit made of plastic. The design was made to be streamlined to reduce cleaning time and to fit inside a shelter.
Technical Support
Technical support will be provided by the manufacturer once the toilets become commercialized.
Replacement Components
Replacement components, including the interior toilet pouch, are available from Water Labs from 3-15 USD.
Lifecycle
Unknown; product is in development
Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters
The toilet should reduce waste volume by 90-99%, reducing the necessary emptying frequency by 10-15 times, and increasing leveraging of existing waste collection by 2-3 times. This reduces the overall cost of sewage management by at least 30-50%. One square meter of the polymer material will vaporize 15-30 L/day (10-20 daily-person-equivalents) of liquid sewage, even in relatively high humidity.Interview with manufacturer
Vetted Performance Status
None
Safety
Proper safety precautions should be taken when handling human waste.
Complementary Technical Systems
None
Academic Research and References
None
Compliance with regulations
Unknown, product in development
Other Information
The Water Lab plan for 2018 is to "Continue pilots, iterative redesign to incorporate user feedback & operational learning, build out servicing model & supply chain sourcing. Launch by mid/late 2018, fulfilling pre-existing orders for toilets for pre-fab refugee shelters in MENA & improved sanitation for poor families in Panama."Interview with manufacturer
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