Development and Field Testing of a Decentralized, Self-Contained Toilet that Converts Human Waste Into Burnable Fuel and Disinfected, Reusable Liquid

Novel waste treatment solutions are being created for developing countries to meet the needs of the over 2.5 billion people without access to proper sanitation. RTI International is developing a toilet that will operate completely separate from the traditional sewer, electrical or water connections. The system separates the incoming solids and liquid streams, disinfects the liquid to a reusable standard, and converts the solids to a burnable fuel which is used to dry incoming solids. The alpha version of this toilet was installed in Ahmedabad, India in October 2015 for use by community members. The purpose of this installation was to study long-term, “live” use of the system and to gain valuable user feedback on all aspects of the toilet. Since installation, the system has consistently disinfected incoming liquid and produced solid pellets that can be combusted for drying and heat energy purposes.