Team:IIT Delhi/Biotoilet

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We spoke to Prof Vinod Tare regarding the recent introduction of biotoilets in Indian Railways>>A Decent Toilet

Since there is a huge problem of corrosion and dirtying of railway lines due to untreated excreta being released on to the railway tracks, these biotoilets, allegedly converted the excreta into unharmful gases and water in a separate compartment below the trains, before being released.

There were a lot of trials done and a pilot project initiated for testing these and scientists from IIT Kanpur were involved in analysing the results of these tests>>Bio-toilet Plan

Despite the thrashing of these biotoilets by the scientists in IIT Kanpur (including Prof Vinod Tare), the government of India was going ahead with implementing this idea in all the trains, making this into a multi thousand crore venture. Sudden popularity of these toilets without having sufficient scientific backing was enough to make us suspicious of the situation.

This is why, we contacted Prof Vinod Tare, asking about the bacteria that are used and whether they're safe to be released in the environment. We came today at IIT and here's what was discussed in the meeting:

1) What is the mechanism of bacterial degradation of excreta? Biomethanation. The bacteria convert the organic matter into methane and water in anaerobic conditions. This is a standard biochemical process and used widely in various other fields^