Indian Student Wins Prize For Waterless Toilet Design For Railways

Vinod Anthony Thomas, a tenth semester student of Faculty of Architecture (FOA), Manipal University, has clinched the second prize at a public competition for designing waterless and odourless toilets for the Indian Railways.

The idea behind the competition, organized by Research Designs and Standards Organization, Lucknow, was to design a toilet which does not give off a foul nor uses any water for operation and maintenance.

(Photo: Vinod A. Thomas/Facebook)

Vinod designed a toilet which does away with problems in the existing system of disposal of human waste on the tracks which is, according to him, “unhygienic, unethical and damaging to the environment”. His project also mentions that there is no effective flushing in the existing model, which results in accumulation and foul smell.

According to a release by Manipal University, his design replaces the present system with a conveyor which carries waste in a hermetically sealed pocket to a large collection bin to store waste. It is run manually by a crank wheel and the bin has been designed to reduce waste of water by means of decomposition and forced ventilation (evaporation of water).

(Photo: The design that won him the prize/Facebook)

The competition was conducted in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a clean India under the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan'. Five among the several entries were shortlisted before the winners were declared.

On May 31, shortlisted designers presented their projects before the jury, which comprised experts from Railways, industry and academia/research fields. Vinod’s design was adjudged the second best in the results announced this week. He bagged Rs 75,000 as prize money and shared the second place with another designer, Rahul Garg and team member Saurabh Hans.

Source: News 18

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Taxonomy

• Sanitation
• Waterless Sanitation
• Sanitation & Hygiene
• India

2 Comments

1. IR should think through for safe disposal with recovery of resources. How the collected faeces shall be disposed off?

   Re Water Less Urinals, designs are available to prevent smell/ volatiles escaping the pan. However, need is there to invest further into processing the urine for recovery of resources .

   Both options can recover energy as well as salts that can be put to multiple uses.

2. Waterless toilet design for railways. Excellent. We need to design waterless  public urinals for men and public urinals for females. The need must be great during Indian Festivals and Holidays. Emergency construction can

   always be made by cutting 208 L streel drum in half and then welding together = Urinal  eight feet long. 

   State of Florida, U.S. present design is 4.8 (Lpm) (Lpf) for toilets. Start with waterless urinals and waterless toilets for schools. Redesign waterless toilets and urinals for schools,public areas and homes should be top of list for everyone in India. Ganga river needs help.