Major Achievements

The Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat initiative has given an impetus for creating innovative solutions to the pressing sanitation problems and challenges faced by our country. In an effort to provide cleaner toilets to the nation, DBT & BIRAC, in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has supported many novel bio-toilet technologies through ‘Reinvent the Toilet Challenge for India (RTTC)’ programme. Six new bio-toilet technologies have so far been supported and different aspects of waste collection and management process addressed. The Energy and Resources Institute, with the support from DBT, has set up 100 toilets to demonstrate these technologies. Several bio-toilets will be setup in schools of North Eastern states. The eco-toilet project of Pradin technologies Pvt. Ltd. in Bengaluru, Karnataka has redesigned the toilet seat. It has also made the entire process eco-friendlier by using ultrasound to dispose and settle feacal matter, thus reducing the use of water. An off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for slums with solar energy, integrated with mixed waste processing unit, water and energy/fertilizer recovery was supported by BIRAC. Undertaken by Eram Scientific Solutions, Kerala, along with the University of South Florida, the system showcased closed-loop resource recovery by integrating the slum e-Toilet with a novel onsite wastewater treatment and recovery solution termed The NEWgeneratorTM, which can be deployed in high-density urban areas and areas suffering from water scarcity and low-electrical grid connectivity. Realizing that the waste in septic tanks is a rich source of nutrients for fertilizers, Bactreat Environmental Solutions LLP, a Goa based company, has converted this waste to sanitized soil and fertilizers. The technology is a collaborative outcome of BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, and Ghent University, Belgium, to improve septic tanks by converting them into decentralized wastewater treatment system. It can treat septage (biological waste) for a single household, as well as for a gated community of 100 people equivalent to 25 families. The other technologies include use of viral agents, microbial fuel cell and effective recycling strategy to improve the economics of human waste disposal using granular material for hygienic water-free toilet. The efforts have started reaping results as the recent UN report shows a substantial decrease in open defecation in India.