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...>

Today is World Toilet Day - November 19, 2016

From Poop to Potable Water

This Ingenious Machine Turns Feces Into Drinking Water

By Bill Gates 

on January 5, 2015

I watched the piles of feces go up the conveyer belt and drop into a large bin. They made their way through the machine, getting boiled and treated. A few minutes later I took a long taste of the end result: a glass of delicious drinking water. (more)

Why A Toilet Alone Won't Do The Job: The 'Software' Of Sanitation Innovation

“The 2015 goal to halve the proportion of people living without sanitation is running 150 years behind schedule.”
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation 2010

Since 2008, the “International Year of Sanitation,” the topic of toilets has more frequently appeared in media all over the world. Despite many efforts, today there are still 2.5 billion people worldwide without access to improved sanitation. Why? Because a toilet alone won’t do the job.
(complete Forbes article)