A toilet which goes beyond solving sanitation problems and can be used to generate cooking gas and electricity is surely a bonus.
One such cheap and economically friendly toilet by Indian organisation Sulabh not only provides clean and proper sanitation both in urban and rural India but also generate electricity for small villages and cooking gas for households from human excreta.
"This organisation has converted 1.3 million bucket toilets into flush toilets and lakhs of scavengers have been freed from manual cleaning of human feces and shackles of untouchability," said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, a non-profit voluntary social organisation founded in 1970.
Participating in a "Toilet fair" held here recently, Pathak demonstrated a low cost toilet model which cost less than Rs 2000 for rural areas using locally available materials.
The Sulabh flush compost toilet is eco-friendly, technically appropriate, socio-culturally acceptable and economically affordable. It consists of a pan with a steep slope especially designed trap which requires 1 to 1.5 litres of water for flushing.
There are two pits of varying size and capacity of each pit is designed for 3 years' usage. In about two years, excreta in the pit get digested and are almost dry and pathogen free, thus safe for handling as manure.
"The Sulabh model has been adopted by a number of countries, including China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia for expansion and promotion of sanitation facilities," Pathak told PTI.
