Bio toilets, an eco friendly system to dispose human waste, are being fitted in railway coaches sent for periodic overhaul (POH) to the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here.
The environment-friendly green toilets have been installed at present in five coaches that were sent for a POH to the over 85-year-old workshop.
Bio toilets are being fitted on another couple of coaches at the workshop which overhauls passenger coaches – air-conditioned and non–AC besides diesel locomotives.
The bio toilet tanks will prevent open discharge of human waste on the track thereby eliminating the ordeal of removing them.
Instead, the faecal matter will fall into the bio-digestive tank and come into contact with the liquid anaerobic bacteria poured inside.
The waste gets processed inside and from thereon goes into the chlorination tank and comes out as disinfectant liquid, say workshop authorities.
The replacement of conventional toilets with bio toilets is being done on the instruction of the Railway Board. The process of fitting bio toilets in passenger coaches would continue henceforth, said a senior official. One of the salient features of the system is that human waste would not fall on the track making it environment-friendly, said the official.
As a trial measure, the workshop had placed ceramic tiles inside the toilet of an air-conditioned coach that came for a POH recently.
This was done to maintain cleanliness and prevent stagnation of water inside the toilet. An electronic flushing valve had been installed inside the toilet of another air-conditioned coach for the benefit of the passengers, the official added.