The world needs more toilets, but Western solutions aren't the answer

Today, 35.8% of the world’s population still lacks access to any proper sanitation facilities.

That’s why in 2015, the world’s leaders agreed to strive for access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. That means more than three billion extra people will need access to a toilet.

But if we solve this problem with the flush toilets we’re used to in the West, we will have a whole new water access and sanitation problem on our hands. <...more...>

Water 4.0

Water 4.0:  The Past, Present, and Future of the World’sMost Vital Resource is a new (2014) book by David Sedlak.   In it he details “(t)he little-known story of the systems that bring us our drinking water, how they were developed, the problems they are facing, and how they will be reinvented in the near future.”  Water 1.0 is what he calls the gravity-powered aqueducts engineered and built by the ancient Romans.  “…(T)he addition of filtration and chlorine disinfection on the front end of water distribution systems…” he refers to as Water 2.0.  “…(T)he installation of biological wastewater treatment on the sewer end…” is Water 3.0.  And, solutions to the challenges we now face will bring Water 3.x – Water 4.0 to our communities.  These solutions may be centralized, decentralized or some combination of both.  Sedlak does a good job of recounting the history and explaining the options we have as we move forward.  For anyone interested in an overview of the past, present and future of urban water, this book is well worth reading.

The Current Status of this Gates-Funded, Reinvented Toilet

The inside story of how Caltech engineers and Kohler designers are testing a toilet technology that could significantly improve the health of 2.5 billion people around the world. It might even appear in U.S. bathrooms, too. -more-

Today, November 19th, is World Toilet Day!!

World Toilet Day is a UN recognized event, observed annually on 19 November. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the global sanitation challenge.(more)

United Nations Declares November 19 "World Toilet Day"

Singapore diplomat Mark Neo said he doesn’t care if people laugh about ‘World Toilet Day’ because it spotlights a serious problem: 2.5 billion people worldwide don’t have access to proper sanitation.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/declares-world-toilet-day-article-1.1409180#ixzz2bxgPCMVm

Today is Global Handwashing Day

October 15, 2012 is the 5th anniversary of Global Handwashing Day!!  Handwashing with soap is the “vaccine” that prevents infections.(more)

Gates Foundation makes poop a priority, puts toilet innovation front and center

Posted at 06:05 PM ET, 08/15/2012

By Emi Kolawole

Bill Gates, right, looks at a device that uses solar energy to treat human waste, as he tours the "Reinventing the Toliet" Fair, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren - AP)

Bill Gates wants your ideas — ideas to improve the one thing most people probably don’t like to think about until they have to: the toilet.

That’s right, there’s a global problem when it comes to the bathroom throne: not everyone has access to one. More specifically, they lack access to clean sanitation services.

In July 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced an initiative to reinvent the toilet, along with $265 million in grants spread across a variety of efforts to spur greater innovation in sanitation.(more...)

Reinventing the toilet is Bill Gates's new mission

NEW DELHI: Reinventing a toilet that has an operational cost of $0.05 per user, per day, that does not rely on water to flush waste and does not discharge pollutants is Bill Gates' latest mission. According to him, no innovation in 200 years has saved more lives than the toilet.

But the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says 2.6 billion people still don't have a safe "affordable way to poop".

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Gates said the best toilet right now is the flush toilet and everything else is vastly inferior. "One of my ultimate dreams now is to reinvent the toilet - find a cheaper alternative to the flush toilet that does not require running water, has smell characteristics better than the flush toilet and is cheap."....more