Sanicle

What it does

Sanicle is a portable, low maintenance and a cost-effective toilet for people without a fixed residence, like slum-dwellers, refugees, military camps in remote locations etc., enabling you to dispose off the waste sustainably and safely without direct contact.

Your inspiration

India has a massive problem of open defecation. With 67% of rural households and 13% of urban households defecating in the open according to the 2011 census, India now accounts for 60% of the world’s open defecation. (SQUAT Survey) For people in slums, and the urban nomadic construction workers, access to a constructed toilet is not possible all the time. Women have also faced privacy and safety issues while defecating in the open. This can be changed if we put in place a product system, which allows people to afford portable toilets, and carry their toilets from place to place, while being able to safely and sustainably dispose off their waste.

How it works

Sanicle is a product within a collection and incentivisation system. The product part consists of a urine-separating, waterless and portable toilet, which is low maintenance and eco-friendly. It also has the option of setting up a privacy barrier made out of tarpaulin, which is easy to set up and use.The body of the toilet is made from a durable alloy plastic called PC-ABS. The urine is diverted into a separate container, which can be disposed off by shutting off the valve, while the faeces can be disposed off by pulling two threads on a biodegradable bag, which seals the faeces to be disposed off safely. The only water required would be to clean up. The system of collection involves disposing your urine and faeces into 2 separate community collection units, which are emptied periodically, and the users are incentivised by giving them a nominal token money by the stakeholder for the amount of waste they generated, which can now be used to make manure or energy.

Design process

The process began in the slums near my college, which involved working closely with slum dwellers and asking them to be a part of the design process. They actively gave critique about the prototypes. Empathising with their needs, I got to know that lack of a fixed residence was the main reason why they never invested in constructing a toilet, which made me work towards a more portable design, keeping privacy in mind. I created a low maintenance, sustainable and cost-effective toilet, which required a minimal learning curve to get used to. I wanted to create something that would be easily accepted into their communities and readily adapted into a daily use product. 1) First prototype followed more of a suitcase-type approach, where the user could drag the toilet behind them like a suitcase, relieve themselves wherever they pleased, and return back to dispose the waste. The problem here was inconvenience in dragging the toilet through the bumpy terrain of them slums. 2) Second prototype was more compact, convenient, and I also included a privacy curtain with the word OCCUPIED printed in the local language, as many women wanted the process to be discreet and personal. This one was better received, being easier to set up on a community level, and to dismantle it for easier portability.

How it is different

Sanicle is portable, enabling people to carry their toilet along, whenever they shift their residence.It makes sanitation more accessible because it does not depend on land, water, plumbing facilities and other resources to construct a toilet in a fixed location. It also costs much lower compared to a constructed toilet. The collection and incentive service makes people want to be a part of this sanitation program, as they get something in return, and the human waste that is collected can now be used for generating electricity or manure. Since it is a urine-separating toilet, both urine and faeces can be used for different purposes, as no energy will be required to separate them. Sanicle offers a private and low-maintenance toilet in locations where it may not be possible to construct a toilet. It differs from other toilets in terms of its portable design, method of urine-separation and incentive system, encouraging people to be a part of the circular economy.

Future plans

Sanicle started out as a classroom project, and I wish to take it forward as a proposal to collaborate with energy companies. Green energy is the need of the hour, and the human waste that could be collected with the help of Sanicle, can contribute towards providing a considerable amount of raw material to generate sustainable energy. As of now, I would like to perfect the design of the toilet to be more manufacturing friendly. I hope to see Sanicle take a step towards bringing about the green energy revolution both nationally and globally, and to demonstrate that a system based on a circular economy can solve major issues plaguing the world.

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