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.

2) What were the results of the experiments that were done to test the efficiency of biotoilets?
The tests revealed that the BOD/COD of the organic waste, after treatment, was much higher than what has been claimed by DRDO and that there were coliforms present in the effluent, which was only removed after extensive chlorination (this being highly oxidative in nature, would cause even more corrosion of railway tracks athan is already caused).
There was also release of gases, harmful for the environment. Prof Tare also said that the bacteria requires certain conditions to grow and it was impossible to maintain those conditions throughout.

3) Where have these bacteria come from? Are they genetically Engineered?
No. They are not genetically engineered strains. In fact, these bacteria were isolated from Siachen, where they were being used for degrading faecal matter. They were adapted to conditions in the compartments by selection.

4) Can so much amount of waste be treated so quickly in these compartments below the trains?
There exists no Magic bacteria that can achieve this. The claims of DRDO about the waste being able to get treated within hours are false and misleading.

5) Is there any safety threat if these bacteria are released in the environment?
Although this question wasn't answered clearly, it seems very unlikely that mere presence of these bacteria in the environment can cause anything bad as they are most likely non-pathogenic. However, the effluents of the biotoilets may very well be harmful to the environment and NOT AS GREEN AS THEY ARE SHOWN TO BE.