Around 2.6 billion people worldwide lack safe toilets. Poor sanitation increases the risk of severe diarrhea, which causes the annual deaths of 1.5 million children. There are currently many investments in health, but little attention is often paid to the source of diseases. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is trying to address this problem by finding a solution to this global problem. Delft University of Technology has received a grant to develop a new technology for processing human feces. This must be made possible without connection of water, energy or sewage. The main aim is to achieve this within the available financial resources from the perspective of poor areas in developing countries. Processing technology is being developed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering to match this. However, the step to actually implement this principle on a large scale has yet to be made. The technology has yet to be transformed into a product.
This is exactly what a group of students from the faculty of Industrial Design will do. As part of their master's degree, they will develop a self-sufficient sanitary system that creates value for the people living in the bottom of the pyramid in Durban, South Africa. This means, among other things, that a realistic and working prototype is developed based on extensive research and user research in the local context. Ultimately, this prototype is tested and evaluated within this local context, after which adjustments are made and recommendations can be made.
