Toilet Revolutionaries
WINNER: Dr Vinod Tare WHY IT WON: For the Zero Discharge Toilets System, which reduces water wastage
IN 2005, THE HRD AND RAILWAY ministries commissioned the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, to develop a zero-discharge toilet system or ZDTS for the Indian Railways. A 12-member team, led by Dr Vinod Tare, 62, professor of environment engineering and management programme at IIT-K’s civil engineering department, got on the job.
The cost of the ZDTS project was Rs 2 crore. The ministries covered 40 per cent each of the cost; the rest came from an industry partner. The ZDTS was first installed in a single passenger coach of the Chennai-Jammu Tawi express for a year-long trial run. Having succeeded, ZDTS toilets have now been installed in various places—from house boats on Kashmir’s Dal lake to a primary school in Coimbatore. In 2013, waterless urinals and ZDTS were installed at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. Its success led to the toilets being installed at six different locations at the Kumbh Mela this year as well.
The ZDTS toilets may look like conventional mobile toilets, but the collection and processing of water
is entirely different. The solid and liquid matter are segregated by a separator fixed under the toilet seat. The liquid is clarified and treated to be used for flushing purposes, thus avoiding the use of fresh water for flushing, while the solids are converted into quality organic manure using vermicomposting.
Tare doesn’t want the toilets to be used commercially. “Many companies are interested in purchasing the ZDTS concept, but we want to do the operation and maintenance of the project ourselves,” he says. ■