Dehydration from diarrhea is the second
largest cause of global infant mortality, after respiratory ailments, and 88%
of life-threatening diarrhea worldwide is caused by drinking contaminated
water. A child somewhere in the world dies from drinking impure water every 30
seconds.
Human waste attracts less funding than other
development projects but ‘Reinvent the Toilet’ challenge recognises that better
hygiene can cut health-care costs and prevent early deaths
A solar powered toilet that breaks down water
and human waste into hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells has won first prize in
a competition for next-generation toilets to improve sanitation in the
developing world.
The California Institute of Technology in the
United States received the $100,000 first prize for its design. Loughborough
University in the United Kingdom took the $60,000 second prize for a toilet
that produces biological charcoal, minerals and clean water, and Canada’s
University of Toronto came third, winning $40,000 for a toilet that sanitises
faeces and urine, and recovers resources and clean water.
The winners took part in a “Reinvent the
Toilet” challenge set by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which asked
designers to break with a sanitation model that has changed little since it was
developed by Alexander Cummings more than 200 years ago. It is a model that depends
on piped water, sewer or electrical connections that poor countries can ill
afford.
Millennium
Goals
“Imagine what’s possible if we continue to
collaborate, stimulate new investment in this sector, and apply our ingenuity
in the years ahead,” said Bill Gates as he announced the winners on August 14,
2012 in Seattle, Washington state. “Many of these innovations will not only
revolutionise sanitation in the developing world, but also help transform our
dependence on traditional flush toilets in wealthy nations.”
