Reinvent the Toilet Challenge Phase I & II

Solving the sanitation challenge in the developing world will require radically new innovations that are deployable on a large scale. Innovation is especially needed in the rural and urban areas, where billions of people are only capturing and storing their waste, with no sustainable way to handle it once their on-site storage—such as a septic tank or latrine pit—fills up. Sustainable solutions supporting the entire value chain of sanitation from collection till treatment is the need of the hour. One promising approach is to seek solutions that have the appeal of the flush toilet connected to a sewer network, but don’t require that infrastructure so would therefore be more affordable, better for the environment, and less wasteful of resources. To this end, the goal of the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge – India” is to fund a portfolio of Indian-led pilot projects that seek to contribute innovations that can be incorporated into next generation toilets that will reduce the burden of excreta-related disease and improve the lives of the poor. The aim is to expand the use of toilet and sanitation technologies that do not connect to a sewer, as this is by far the most common approach used by the poor.This program was directed at addressing the problems in sanitation and specifically targeted towards Indian innovation and creativity.