Loo that turns waste into water to revolutionise world sanitation

New loo will turn waste into water. Image by ume-y / CC BY 2.0

UK researchers are developing a self-powered toilet which turns human waste into clean water and even energy to charge mobile phones.

The “nano membrane toilet”, being developed with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to help bring sanitation into the homes of 2.5 billion people still without it in developing countries, without needing water supplies or sewage pipes.

The team at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, say it could also be used in developed countries, for uses ranging from the military to luxury yachts, the construction industry or even as an odour-free alternative to the toilets widely used at music festivals.

(Press Association)