Loowatt Toilet

Target SDGs

Market Suggested Retail Price

$20.00

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Household, Community

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

Loowatt Ltd

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include Laveo Dry Flush Toilet.

Countries

Madagascar, Philippines, United Kingdom

Manufacturing/Building Method

Toilets are constructed locally using available materials and are integrated with imported Loowatt waste-sealing units.

Intellectural Property Type

Patent

User Provision Model

In partnership with local governments and organizations, Loowatt provides waterless toilets to households and communities in Madagascar, the Philippines, and the UK.

Distributions to Date Status

By January 2021, over 1,000 toilets have been distributed.

Design Specifications

The toilet was designed to provide sanitary toilets where water is not accessible for flushing.

Loowatt utilizes a biodegradable film to seal waste. This prevents odors and improves safety by eliminating user contact with the waste.

Refills & maintenance: There are two alert mechanisms to indicate the container needs to be replaced: the Loowatt app or color-coded polymer film.

Loowatt employs a closed-loop process to transform human waste into biogas for electricity and fertilizer for crops. The waste is collected by a service team and transported to a waste processing facility. The film is separated from the waste so that the waste can be treated using anaerobic digesters to produce the biogas and fertilizer products.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

The toilets are serviced and emptied periodically by trained staff.

Replacement Components

The loowatt toilets require a monthly fee paid by users which covers the cost of repairs and components of the toilet mechanism that need replacing.

Lifecycle

Over 10 years^{Interview with designer}

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Loowatt's target goals are to provide household and community sanitation services that are locally managed and then to scale production to ultimately meet the sanitation needs of growing urban communities. Loowatt aims to serve over 1 million people in under-served communities by 2022, in addition to over 5 million people annually throughout the EU.

Vetted Performance Status

As of 2021, over 252,000 people have used Loowatt toilets, 745 tons of waste has been processed, and 56 MWh of energy has been generated.

Safety

The Loowatt systems were designed to ensure that users did not have contact with the waste deposited into toilets. One safety factor that is still being considered is the transfer of waste from the toilet-containers to transportation services, which can result in sewage being spilled into yards.

Complementary Technical Systems

The toilets are integrated with a waste-processing facility built in Madagascar's capital, which processes the waste collected from each of the company's leased-toilets every six months.

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

None^{Interview with designer}

Evaluation methods

The toilets are evaluated by users for functionality and appropriateness, and feedback is given to the design team.^{Interview with designer}

Other Information

Loowatt toilets were used by staff at the 2018 royal wedding.

Additional schematic information can be found in Eawag’s Assessing the Costs of on-Site Sanitation Facilities study report.

Patent protected