Flush With Cash

Here is a toilet that pays you each time you flush. For every 200 gm discharged, Rs 2 can be earned.

Here is a toilet that pays you each time you flush. A unique electronic lavatory, invented by Chennai based engineering student Koushik Vaidhinathan, has made it to the finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010. “The device is an electronic system that can be fitted to any normal existing toilet. A small micro controller drives four motors within the system that determine the amount of faecal matter discharged at any given point. We then compare it with two threshold values after which the system pays money to the user,” explains Koushik. The faeces will be collected in two tanks and used to generate power or biogas. For every 200 gm discharged, Rs 2 can be earned. Says Koushik, “Our targets are public toilets and lavatories for slum dwellers. The payment model would attract them and solve the problem of open defecation. Plus, the money that a family earns would allow them to buy rations.”

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Avantika Bhuyan