Scientists at the University of Colorado have been putting a grant to good use by working on an invention that could revolutionize health in developing countries: an innovative toilet.

In 2012, CU was chosen as one of 16 teams to participate in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge."

Since the 2012 grant of $777,000, the team has received an additional $1 million from the Gates Foundation for the project, according to CU.

A working toilet prototype has been shipped to India where it will be on display for a "toilet fair" next week, said Karl Linden, a CU environmental engineering professor who is leading the Boulder campus project.

Linden said the group's toilet uses solar power to convert fecal matter into a sanitary, harmless charcoal-like material that can be used for heating or fertilizing. He said the group also has a urine-diverting feature that heats the waste to 70 degrees Celsius to kill any potential pathogens before being used as a fertilizer.

"We got funded for 18 months, and we've already made a lot of progress," Linden said. "That's really awesome because some teams have been funded for three years, and we already have a working prototype."

In order to ship it overseas, the waterless toilet had to be disassembled. It took two months for it to make it to India.


Many of the CU scientists are heading to Delhi, India, where they will reassemble the toilet and take part in the toilet showcase. Linden said private showings of the toilet will be March 18 and 19, and later next week will be an "invitation-only toilet fair" where the team will get to demonstrate its design.

"Obviously, people at fairgrounds don't want real feces present, so we're going to make synthetic waste products," Linden said.

At the showcase, technicians and personal advisers for Bill Gates will be questioning the teams on their machines.

If granted additional funding, the second phase of work would consist of improving the efficiency and economics of the toilet.

"We're looking to improve the technology and make it less costly," Linden said. "One of the things we're working on is how to deal with cloudy days."

He said his team is enjoying the difference in scientific approach for the project.

"It's a pretty incredible experience to be able to actually build something that's physically real because a lot of the work we do in the lab is studying concepts and theories and advancing science that way," he said. "This, you get to actually build something."

Linden said about five graduate students, two undergraduates, and five professional researchers and faculty members make up the CU team.

"It's been amazing because we've brought together a team of really diverse people with different backgrounds: social sciences, chemical engineers, environmental engineers," Linden said.

If his team gets funded and can complete the improvements, he said, he hopes to see the toilet get to do its intended job: "I hope we have a toilet that is ready to go to a country and actually work in the field."