the Toilet Reinventing Generating Gold from faeces:

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1 Generating Gold from faeces: Reinventing the Toilet AIT s Dr. Thammarat Koottatep receives US$ 5 Mil. Research Grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 1

2 By Bajinder Pal Singh The third millennium B.C. is often regarded as the age of cleanliness. Toilets were invented during this period, almost simultaneously in various parts of the world. At Mohenjo-daro, which was one of the largest settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization, fairly advanced lavatories were built into the outer walls of houses. Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler, one of the best known British archaeologists of the previous century, commended: The high quality of the sanitary arrangements (at the Indus Valley Civilization) could well be envied in many parts of the world today. The toilet needs to be reinvented, A telling comment considering that, in the twenty first century, many parts of the world are grappling to compete with the hydraulic engineering feats from circa 26th century B.C. But a group of researchers at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) have committed to take on the challenge. The toilet needs to be reinvented, and we are going to do it, says Dr. Thammarat Koottatep of the Environmental Engineering and Management field of study at AIT s School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD). A recipient of a US$ 5-million research grant Sustainable Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Dr. Doulaye Kone (left) and Dr. Thammarat Koottatep - Photo by Paitoon Tinawong Project staff collecting sludge samples at various places in Thailand - Photo by Chuthathip Siripong 2

3 and we are going to do it Thammarat leads a team of scientists who are to reinvent the toilet in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Despite huge advances made in technology, sanitation issues continue to be enormous. While the car, the telephone and the mobile phone have witnessed several rounds of revolution, sanitation seems untouched by technology. The flush toilet that most people use is already 200 years old, and it has not improved significantly. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, 2.5 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. Three-fourths of these people live in the Asia- Pacific region, Dr. Thammarat reveals. Grappling with this problem is not easy. It entails investment on the part of individual householders who have to forgo substantial portions of their meager earnings to build toilets, pits, septic tanks or onsite storage systems. These, according to Dr. Thammarat, may not be the best solution. Having toilets and onsite storage systems are not enough to make sanitation safe and sustainable. Onsite storage systems malfunction very frequently due to a lack of information on the lifespan, poor operation, and maintenance such as desludging, he says. To add to this, untreated sludge is discharged into water bodies, most notably rivers, thereby contaminating the environment. Today, particularly in the dry season, the Chao Praya River near Bangkok stinks because of untreated waste. Faecal sludge emptying truck at Khon Kaen, Thailand - Photo by Chuthathip Siripong 3

4 Sludge sample collection in Rayong, Thailand - Photo by Chuthathip Siripong An easier solution postulated by him is creating decentralized systems. Decentralized systems provide the advantage of flexibility, in that different treatment technologies can be combined to meet the required goals of treating human excreta and wastewater from homes and businesses, Dr. Thammarat avers. In addition, decentralized Decentralized systems provide the advantage of flexibility, in that different treatment technologies can be combined to meet the required goals of treating human excreta and wastewater from homes and businesses systems have the advantage of saving homeowners the cost of connecting to a sewer, and eliminate the environmental burden of transporting large quantities of wastewater to the treatment plant, he adds. The Gates Foundation-funded project was kicked off at an event organized in Bangkok on 24 September Gracing the occasion was Dr. Doulaye Kone, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, USA, and Prof. Chongrak Polprasert, former Dean of AIT s School of Environment, Resources and Development, who is closely associated with the project. Speaking at the event, Dr. Kone stressed the need for innovation which can make a major impact on people s lives. His attempt is to engage more people, more scientists, and more organizations in the project. With one-third of the world s people not having access, one can consider this as a business opportunity. On the other hand, it is also a great scientific opportunity to create a high-tech solution which is affordable. A critical question is what happens after your flush the toilet, and where does it end up, Dr. Kone asked? It might end up in our own neighborhood and the greens that we are eating be irrigated with the same faeces. Dr. Thammarat adds that one major differentiating factor in the project is the focus on a market-driven approach. It is not a mere technology and engineering project alone, but it incorporates people s need and understanding. For instance, recycling, which is a sinequa-non for many industries is somehow missing in this sector. Our focus will seek to incorporate recycling in our design. And it has to be affordable, he says. To obtain feedback and people s response behavior, Dr. Thammarat s team is already in the field in all three countries. Along with colleagues and partners from 4

5 Sample collection from cesspool, Khon Kaen, Thailand - Photo by Chuthathip Siripong REINVENTING THE TOILET PHASES PHASE I : Creating a platform for innovation PHASE II : Designing and developing lead options for commercialization PHASE III : Catalyzing commercialization of lead options. Sludge tank investigation - Photo by Chuthathip Siripong Thammasat University, Ramkhamhaeng University, and Rajamangala University of Technology in Surin, Thailand, and the University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, researchers are mapping out what people need and desire. The project has to be both technology intensive and people focused, and that is where our market approach assumes importance, Dr. Thammarat explains. AIT, he adds was fortunate to bag this prestigious project, primarily because it is a leader in the region having launched the very first sanitary engineering program in Southeast Asia. Courtesy AIT s expertise and the generous grant from the Gates Foundation, Dr. Thammarat is confident of building a new generation of toilets. At the launch ceremony, Dr. Kone reminded everyone that to create a new generation of toilets, one has to think differently. There is energy in faeces and urine, he reasoned. Animal waste such as cow manure is already used to generate gas, and why not apply the same to human faeces? His reasoning is simple. The food that humans eat is equivalent to a certain amount of energy, and the excess energy is excreted. We should not send it away or regard it as waste. It all depends on the way you look at it. If you want to see it as gold, it will be gold and we can recover the energy. Bajinder Pal Singh is Senior News and Media Specialist, Asian Institute of Technology Of the 20 million cubic meters of domestic wastewater produced per day in Thailand, only 1.6 million cubic meters are collected in sewer networks and sent to treatment plants, many of which do not function. The figures for fecal sludge are equally alarming: in Thailand, 60,000 tons of fecal sludge is collected per day, but only 4,500 tons per day (i.e., less than 10%) are treated correctly. This project aims to double the amount of correctly treated fecal sludge, with innovative business models. AIM: Reinvent decentralized systems and technologies for treatment and safe disposal of human excreta and wastewater from dwellings and businesses close to their sources. GOAL: Catalyze the commercialization of novel, superior decentralized wastewater treatment systems aimed at radically improving sanitation for the poor, particularly in urban areas. The Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiated the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge in 2011 to bring sustainable sanitation solutions to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don t have access to safe, affordable sanitation. 5