Sunday, July 29, 2012

No Sh*t! Israeli toilet wins acclaim

An Israeli greentech company, Paulee Cleantech has been awarded a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant of $110,000 for their invention of a remarkable new toilet. The innovative toilet needs no water and generates its own power to turn waste into sterile, odorless compost.

Over 1.1 billion people in the world today are without access to a toilet. It has been estimated that 80 percent of human waste is released untreated into rivers and streams

Oded Halperin, one of the company’s original investors, speaking to Israel 21C describes the tolilets design:

"For the solid waste, which also can include toilet paper, we are mixing it with our chemical formula for not more than 30 seconds and it will turn immediately into odorless, sterile fertilizer. The fertilizer will be automatically dropped into a removable canister where it can be collected from time to time and than be used for field and/or home crops. The liquid waste will be sterilized separately in another reservoir, and then pumped up to flush the toilet – powered by heat energy created from the solid-waste process and stored in a battery. According to the still-secret drawings of the patent-pending device, the internally created heat would even power a light inside the stall. "

“We are one of only very, very few Israeli companies that have received any grants from this foundation,” Halperin points out

In addition, the Ramat Gan-based company is considering opportunities for raising funds from private and strategic investors as it looks to widen its potential applications to hygienic solutions for trains, airplanes, boats, motor homes and other modes of transportation."

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