Rotating
flush bowl
Membranes
Drying
chamber
Liquids
warming coil
Clean water
Holding
chamber
NEW PLACES TO GO
A TOILET IS LIKE A “SUPER VACCINE,” says Doulaye Kone of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. “It kills disease where it is produced.”
Traditional sanitation systems are costly to build and maintain, so
the foundation’s Reinvented Toilet initiative is helping to develop
alternatives such as the toilets seen here. Safe and inexpensive to
operate, these commodes can function without running water and,
in some cases, electricity. They’re also sustainable, eliminating
pathogens while recovering nutrients and energy.
The Nano Membrane Toilet is
a portable, self-contained unit
that doesn’t require external
power. Waste is mechanically
separated. A combustor dries
and burns the solids, while
liquids are heated and puri-
fied. The resulting sanitized
ash and water can then be
removed for safe disposal.
MECHANICAL DRY
BIO-COMBUSTION
Lowering the lid rotates
the bowl and activates
a blade that scrapes
waste into a tank.
Dried solids fall into
the combustion
chamber, where a self-
sustaining burning
cycle turns them to ash.
The purified vapor
condenses into
water, which flows
into a tank that also
serves as a footrest.
An Archimedes’
screw moves solids
into a drying chamber.
Liquids are heated into
vapor that is filtered
through membranes.
The ash—as
much as 100
grams a day
for 10 users—is
emptied daily.
THE PROCESS TAKES
LESS THAN 24 HOURS
TO COMPLETE.
1
3
2
Untreated water
Solids
Treated water
USERS
PER DAY
10
YEARS’
LIFE SPAN
10
ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERIES—AND WONDERS—ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 236 NO. 1
EXPLORE
IN THIS SECTION
Storied Boots
A Salty Swim
Argonaut Sacrifice
Firefly Forest
NANO
MEMBRANE TOILET
HTCLEAN
TOILET SYSTEM
30 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC