There are “pay after use” toilets, but now a model for a “pays you after use” toilets has won city-based students the second place in an international competition by Microsoft.
A team of three led by Koushik Vaidyanathan of the Prathyusha Institute of Technology and Management secured the second place for the ‘Envisioning 2020' award in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010. It was for their concept of “Electronic Lavatories” which he said could be used as an add-on to existing toilets. Kiran Kumar Sridharan, also a student of the Institute and Lalitha Ashok, who passed out of the Institute, were the other members of the team.
“The proof of concept model determines if the object it collects is faecal matter and vends money to the user. The idea is targeted to encourage the use of public toilets among slum-dwellers and thereby reduce open defecation,” Koushik told a press meet here on Wednesday.
The toilet is also eco-friendly as it consumes just one litre of water for cleaning as against the seven litres of water required in conventional toilets, said N. Gunasekaran, principal of the Prathyusha Institute of Technology and Management.
He added that with the introduction of this technology, the faecal matter could be easily accumulated and taken to biogas fuel plants to produce fuel and manure.
“The system will require maintenance and regular cleaning of the collection drum into which the faecal material falls,” said Koushik.
The team competed against participants from all over the world.
The competition that brings together young technologists to resolve some of the world's toughest challenges was held in Warsaw, Poland earlier this month.
