Netherlands: The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in collaboration with other groups and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project, SaniUP has developed an experimental smart toilet for use in areas experiencing the aftermath of a disaster.
The new eSOS system (Emergency Sanitation Operation System) has a GSM/GPS sensor/card, energy supply unit, occupancy sensors, urine/faeces accumulation sensor, an S.O.S. activation button, electric locking and a communication system that will send out alerts when the toilet requires maintenance such as waste tank emptying or the water tank requires filling.
The smart toilet runs on solar power and is designed to deal with the entire emergency sanitation chain and minimize the threat to public health. the nature of the sanitation unit has various opportunities in refugee camps and other disaster prone areas.
The entire experimental project is headed by Damir Brdjanovic and his team of scientists at UNESCO's Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands.
Source: Voice of America
