2012-10-14 17:30:21
The precursor of the modern toilet was designed in 1596 by one John Harington
If we were asked what was the most important invention of humanity, I think that the most sensible people would answer that the one that has saved the most lives. Following this criterion, perhaps vaccination would be one of the most important inventions, but next to it, even above it, we would undoubtedly have to place the toilet.
Before this invention became widespread, along with an adequate waste disposal system, people would deposit their excrement in homemade latrines and urinals to empty it outside the home later, sometimes by the expeditious method of throwing the fecal water out the window. . In these extremely unhygienic conditions, deadly infectious epidemics, such as cholera, were common and caused thousands of deaths, as well as great alarm among the population.
Although the precursor of the modern toilet was designed in 1596 by a certain John Harington, its use did not become popular until no less than three hundred years later, towards the end of the 19th century. However, let us not believe that this invention is found in everyone’s homes (except in Eskimo Igloos, for obvious reasons). No less than 40% of the world’s population (about 2.6 billion people) has never used a toilet, a surprising 10% more than the percentage of the population that has never used a mobile phone.
Among the reasons for this high percentage is the inability to access sufficient water to evacuate waste. The current toilet is only possible in regions of the planet where water is abundant. Let us keep in mind that the amount of water used in its use is ten times greater than that needed for drinking. For this reason, added to the fact that fresh water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource on a planetary scale, it would be convenient to develop new technologies for treating human fecal waste that would not require as much water and that, if possible, would extract energy. or at least organic fertilizers or other useful products from as many tons of excrement as we all produce daily.
PORTALS TO NEW TOILETS
One of the problems that must be overcome in the development of new toilets is to stimulate research on this topic. This does not seem like a crucial technological problem, nor one that will provide large amounts of money or prestige to those who risk tackling it. Fortunately, some modern philanthropists have helped encourage research into this matter, and one of them is none other than Mr. Bill Gates (also known as Guillermo Portales), founder of Microsoft.
During a trip to South Africa, Mr. Gates met an environmental sanitation expert, who made him aware of the problem of the world’s lack of effective toilets. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation then announced the “Reinvent the Toilet” Award, endowed with more than $250,000, with the intention of rewarding the most innovative toilets. In addition, he financed the implementation of eight projects that did not have their own financing.
According to Science magazine, the call for this award has borne fruit. Dozens of projects have participated in it, four of which have won awards. The first prize, worth $100,000, was won by researchers from the California Institute of Technology. The toilet they presented uses solar energy (abundant precisely where water is usually scarce), to operate an electrochemical reactor that generates hydrogen from excrement. Hydrogen can be stored and used to operate the toilet at night or on cloudy days, and the excess can be used to generate electricity.
MORE AWARDS
The second prize, worth $60,000, was awarded to researchers from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. The toilet presented is capable of converting excrement into biomass, which can be used as fuel to obtain heat or electricity. In the process, the toilet also extracts purified excrement water, which can at least be used for irrigation.
The third prize, worth $40,000, was awarded to researchers from the University of Toronto, in Canada, who presented a toilet capable of dehydrating and then burning dry waste without generating smoke, leaving the toilet clean in 24 hours.
A special mention, also worth $40,000, was awarded to researchers from the Eawag institute in Dübendorf, Switzerland, for the design of an interactive toilet, which has a pedal to operate a water recycling pump and transparent tubes that allow you to see its evolution when filling the tank. Encouraging entertaining use of these toilets is also an important part of achieving their implementation. Furthermore, this design can be combined with different technologies presented in the competition to improve its recycling performance.
These new toilet technologies can have an enormous impact in regions of the planet currently without sanitation and where epidemics of cholera and other diseases cause severe damage, especially among the child population. Let’s hope that philanthropists like Mr Gates, or also, why not? Generous development aid policies by the richest countries can help citizens of the poorest countries prevent contagious diseases and achieve a healthier life through the implementation of these innovative toilets.
WORKS BY JORGE LABORDA.
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