The overall goal of the project is to develop and demonstrate an innovative sanitation and resource recovery solutions for the slum areas in India. The first objective is to design and implement a novel public sanitation platform that meets the specific needs of slums through new designs. The second objective is to demonstrate closed loop resource recovery by integrating the slum eToilet developed by Eram Scientific Solutions with a novel onsite waste water treatment and recovery solution termed The NEWgenerator developed by University of South Florida (USF).

eToilet is coming with auto flushing and floor washing mechanisms, remote monitoring capabilities, robust and strong structure which can easily installed at site, unique maintenance options and multiple revenue generations models. We are in search of a unique combined model of eToilet along with a perfect back end processing which can have the resource generation/recovery capability to cater increasing need of resources like water, electricity etc. all over the world.

This project will be conducted in 2 distinct phases. Phase 1 focuses on the design and construction of the community model eToilet and NEWgenerator. Phase 2 fully integrates the slum-based eToilet with the NEWgenerator, and demonstrates the successful operation of the combined system. Combining anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and solar (PV and thermal) technologies, the NEWgenerator allow for localized recovery of nutrients, energy and water from human wastes. This is accomplished by fully treating and recycling the flush water through the combined biological and membrane treatment system and by recovering energy in the form of biogas from anaerobic degradation.

This off-grid and modular treatment system enables the combined e-toilet/NEWgenerator system to be rapidly deployed to high-density urban areas as well as areas suffering from water scarcity and low-electrical grid connectivity.

This project is to provide a cost effective, modular sanitation technology that is relevant to broader segments of the Indian population. This will be accomplished by refining and adapting the existing electronic toilet, eToilet, design to ensure that it meets the specific needs of communities. Full integration of the eToilet and NEWgenerator will allow the combined system to be implemented in a greater variety of settings, including locations with unreliable or non-existent electricity and water connection.

eToilet integrated with NEWGen

Field Testing – Resource recovering Off grid system in community area





NEWgenerator ™
Technology for the global sanitation challenge



For more on NEWgen background: www.dropbox.com/s/07dsi27ahuznqrs/NEWgen...resentation.pdf?dl=0


Integration of eToilet with NEWGen is completed and system trial run on progress.

Site: Leo XIII School Ground, Pulluvila, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.




Photos Of Integrated System

Thanks David for the comment and query.

Its a completely onsite waste processing system. The waste from eToilet is going to an underground tank which called as an EQ Tank. Depends upon the waste volume at EQ tank, NEWGen will take the waste for processing at specific intervals automatically. The whole process is automated, from user engagement of eToilet till the resource recovery of NEWGen.

Thanks and Regards

Midhu S.V

Midhu, this looks very interesting. Can you tell me what happens to the waste currently from the etoilets? Will the new system deal with waste onsite or will it need to be collected and treated elsewhere? Thank you, David

Thank you so much Arno for your interest in this project. The system integration and testing of eToilet (Eram Scientific) with NEWGen (University of South Florida) is on progress at a coastal community area at Pulluvila, Kerala, India. So far there is not much relevant data is available as the integration and testing is just started.We are working to achieve to meet the RTTC criteria with this project.

Please find the project update so far.

Major Activities Completed

• Project Kickoff and system study
• Site Survey and Data Collection
• Integration design and information exchange with USF
• eToilet Design and Development
• eToilet Prototyping, Testing and Evaluation
• Development and Testing of NEW Generator
• Site Identification and Site Confirmation
• Shipping of NEW Generator
• Arrival of NEWgenerator and USF team at Kerala, India
• Integration of eToilet and NEW Generator
• Installations, EQ Tank, Drainage, Plumbing, Electrification and Automation
• Integrated System Testing – On Progress

Specially designed eToilet - Community eToilet






Site Preparations and Installations







New Generator Landed at Kerala - Unloading



Integration -eToilet with NEWGen






User Awareness Programs



Will share more detailed data soon.

Thanks and Regards

Midhu S.V

Thanks Midhu for these further details. Can you provide an indication on how the E-Toilet is doing in terms of meeting the RTTC criteria. Any performance data from the monitoring?

1. Removes germs from human waste and recovers valuable resources such as energy, clean water, and nutrients.

2. Operates “off the grid” without connections to water, sewer, or electrical lines.

3. Costs less than US$.05 cents per user per day.

4. Promotes sustainable and financially profitable sanitation services and businesses that operate in poor, urban settings.

5. Is a truly aspirational next-generation product that everyone will want to use—in developed as well as developing nations.

Regards

Dear all,

Kindly find attached project details of ‘Field testing of off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for slums, with solar energy for Indian weather and integrated with mixed waste processing unit, with water, energy/ fertilizer recovery’ under RTTC India grand.

Thanks and Regards

Midhu SV
Senior Manager (Projects & QA)
Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltc.
Kerala, India

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Title of grant:
Field testing of off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for slums, with solar energy for Indian weather and integrated with mixed waste processing unit, with water, energy/ fertilizer recovery

• Name of lead organization: Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd (www.eramscientific.com)
• Primary contact at lead organization: Bincy Baby, Head-Convergence Business Group and Midhu S.V, Sr.Manager (Projects and QA)
• Grantee location: Trivandrum, Kerala, India
• Developing country where the research is being tested: Trivandrum, Kerala, India
• Start and end date: 01-06-2015 – 30-12-2016 (Approx.)
• Grant type: “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India“ (RTTC – India), see here for more information about the RTTC India program: www.susana.org/en/resources/projects?search=birac
• Approx. Size of grant is 190,000 USD @ fixed rate of 60Rs:1USD

Short description of the project:

Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd., an ISO 9001:2008 certified Company based out of Kerala, India is a social enterprise of Eram Group, with implementation experience in more than 16 states with over 1000 eToilets and 200 sewage treatment plants installed to date. eToilet is an indigenous & innovative product and is INDIA’S FIRST AUTOMATIC, UNMANNED, ELECTRONIC PUBLIC TOILET. Product Details can be found out in the following link:
eramscientific.com/?q=productoftheyear

eToilet is coming with auto flushing and floor washing mechanisms, remote monitoring capabilities, robust and strong structure which can easily installed at site, unique maintenance options and multiple revenue generations models. The output from the eToilet is usually will connect to the existing sewage line (if available) or to anaerobic digester STP.
We are in search of a unique combined model of eToilet along with a perfect back end processing which can have the resource generation/recovery capability to cater increasing need of resources like water, electricity etc. all over the world.

The proposed project is to develop and demonstrate an innovative sanitation and resource recovery solution for the community areas in India. The new eToilet (electronic toilet) design will allow a broader and often neglected segment of the Indian population to utilize Eram’s smart self‐cleaning sanitation facilities, thereby improving the broader sanitation situation throughout India. The project also demonstrates closed‐loop resource recovery by integrating the community eToilet with a novel onsite wastewater treatment and recovery solution termed The NEWgenerator.

For something visual about our toilets, see these two videos done with Bincy Baby from Eram Scientific in March 2014 at the Reinvent the Toilet Fair (see this post: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/170-pu...mit=12&start=24#7999)

Interview with Bincy (5 minutes):



Technical tour of their 3 exhibits (9 minutes):




Goal(s):

The goal of this project is to provide a cost effective, modular sanitation technology that is relevant to broader segments of the Indian population. This will be accomplished by refining and adapting the existing electronic toilet, eToilet, design to ensure that it meets the specific needs of communities. The eToilet will be integrated with a waste treatment technology, the NEWgenerato, to allow for the sustainable recovery of nutrients, energy, and water at the point of disposal. Full integration of the etoilet and NEWgenerator will allow the combined system to be implemented in a greater variety of settings, including locations with unreliable or nonexistent electricity and water connection.

The impetus for this project stems from our experience in installing over 400 public etoilets throughout India. These toilets have made significant improvements in public and environmental health, by utilizing sensor rich facilities that clean themselves and automatically report issues to maintenance personnel.

Communities are environments that present unique challenges to the existing etoilet design. High usage rates, which are encountered in these settings, can easily overwhelm existing decentralized wastewater treatment systems. In areas like communities, a complete lack of water and energy infrastructure presents an additional constraint. To address these two issues, this project aims to fully integrate a community based e‐toilet with a NEWgenerator that will provide for all of the electrical needs of the e‐toilet through biogas combustion. Phase 2 for the proposal would be to integrate the developed prototype with the New Generator and field test the integrated system in an Indian community area. The NEWgeneratorTM will also enable complete sanitation of the wastewater which can be reused for flush water within the toilet.

Objectives:

The first objective is to design and implement a novel public sanitation platform that meets the specific needs of communities through new designs in Eram’s eToilet. Communities, especially slums are settings that present unique challenges to existing eToilet design due to higher pathogen loading rates, and lack of sanitation awareness. The second objective is to demonstrate closed loop resource recovery by integrating the community eToilet with a novel onsite wastewater treatment and recovery solution termed The NEWgenerator. Combining anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and solar (PV and thermal) technologies, the NEWgenerator allows for localized recovery of nutrients, energy and water from human wastes. This off grid and modular treatment system enables the combined e toilet/NEWgeneratorTM system to be rapidly deployed to high‐density urban areas as well as areas suffering from water scarcity and low electrical grid connectivity.

This project will be conducted in 2 distinct phases. Phase 1 focuses on the design and construction of the slum eToilet model and NEWgenerator. Phase 2 fully integrates the slum-based eToilet with the NEWgenerator, and demonstrates the successful operation of the combined system.

Research or implementation partners:
The collaborator role is undertaken by University of South Florida, who will be in charge of the fabrication of the NEWgenerator and field testing of the combined eToilet/NEWgenerator.

Links, further readings – results to date:

Related discussion threads on the discussion forum:
About the e-toilets: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/170-pu...cientific-india#3663

About the NEWgenerator: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/98-res...of-south-florida-usa

Questions or comments? Please ask us here in this thread.

Eram Scientific receives yet another grant for developing Cost effective & sustainable eToilets



Eram Scientific has received grant for developing Cost effective & sustainable eToilets by the Gates Foundation supported “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India“ ( RTTC – India) for specific communities such as slums. This research will involve ‘field testing of off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for large communities, with solar energy for Indian weather and integrated with mixed waste processing unit, with water, energy/ fertilizer recovery. RTTC-India is a collaborative effort of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Govt. of India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This program is an India-specific program modelled on the Gates Foundation’s global Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC), under which Eram Scientific has been already awarded grant in 2012.

ESS is considering to collaborate with California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Duke University and University of South Florida (USF) to integrate various models of eToilets with the processing units of the international collaborators and test the combined systems in several locations across India.

Dr Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman of Eram Group received the award certificate from Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary , Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India at the “Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India”, an event held in New Delhi during 21st & 22nd March 2014.


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Note by moderator (EvM):

* The total amount of the RTTC India grant is $1,068,908, which is spread over six research projects, one of them is this one (see also: www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quic...s/2013/05/OPP1055862)

Further information about the RTTC India grant scheme is also available here on the forum:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/139-gr...nda-gates-foundation