Comments

• Awesomeness

  Duane 06/18/2009

• This was fascinating and fantastic! Thanks.

  Maxine 06/23/2009

• thats was excellent and educational! not to mention it had a good sound track ;)

  Cindy 06/23/2009

• ill bet dollars to donuts that those same 2.6 billion people who dont have toilets wont be able to afford biodegradable plastic cartridges either.

  scott 06/25/2009

• It's part of a system that will be provided "to them" much like our "water" system provides sewage for us and a fraction of the cost.

  BEBE 06/28/2009

• "ill bet dollars to donuts that those same 2.6 billion people who dont have toilets wont be able to afford biodegradable plastic cartridges either." I don't think that's really the point. The point is that *we* should be using a system like this to capture the energy that's being lost in our sh*t currently, and also to cut down on the ocean of drinking-quality water that's being wasted in our current toilet facilities.

  nick 06/30/2009

• How much more efficiently could this be done in a single industrial setting, like say, the city waste treatment plant?

  Brillo 07/01/2009

• Hi! Congratulations, this is a very interesting proyect!!! I was wondering, some times we do "number 1" and "number 2" at the same time...How would the system work under this conditions? once again, very well thought and also nicely explained. I was blown away by your project.

  Diego 07/06/2009

• What do you do with the toilet paper etc.?

  Jeri Koegel 07/07/2009

• What an amazing adventure that was. Thanks for taking the time and energy to really explain and to work on such a vital product! Love it. With our Blue Gold at high risk in many areas of the world http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/ you are really honing in on the most important resource. Congrats.

  Zoe Pawlak 07/07/2009

• This is beautiful - what an artist you are!

  pam sinclair 07/08/2009

• There will no word of "washing", ha ? Trully brilliant

  Rumah Dijual 07/08/2009

• Please follow up to let us know when this system goes into production. I hope many of dwell's readers would do their part and purchase + spread the word. Hopefully the purchase price will be comparable to buying an average replacement toilet so cost would not be a deterrent. It would then just be a matter of perception of changing habits & beliefs about what we are “used to” using. Of course, the final toilet design would have to be esthetically pleasing, probably somewhat mimicking a traditional toilet design for mass market appeal.

  Kriste Brushaber 07/08/2009

• Already commercialized! Have a look at http://www.biolytix.com/detail.php?ID=8 http://www.biolytix.com/detail.php?ID=270 Biolytix is a natural wastewater treatment system. It uses worms & other living organisms to break down waste.

  Jim 07/09/2009

• Great idea, but it has already been done. Composting toilets have been on the market for many years for residential use. They use heaters to dehydrate the waste and a stir system that keeps bacterial activity going, the end result is simple humus. The units sell for around $1,000 and can easily be found on the net. This also would never work for the masses of people because they will not be willing to even broach the subject of solid waste and what to do with it. It's an exercise in academics unless you are talking about developing countries.

  Tracy Cooper 07/10/2009

• But composting toilets require electricity to work. It would appear that this one does not, although I couldn't tell exactly what was happening at the site where the methane was reworked. I already have a place for a loo like this -

  pam 07/11/2009

• I don't use toilet paper. I use an electronic bidet that sprays water. I wonder if that would work with this system? True I use water with bidet but save on paper waste.

  Fred 07/12/2009

• So basically, she just created a personal sludge/biosolids digester or a personal septic tank... BTW, your poop already provides energy to power plants. Wastewater treatment plants harness the methane gas from digesters. Sludge from the digesters are thickened and further used as feedstock to compost process or land applied for use in non-food chain crops.

  Benjamin Novida 07/14/2009

• It is great -and important to save the water. What a last of water. We have several products in Denmark but your design looks great. What will be the price ? I will build a house next year like this, using no energy with straw bales - and thick walls. http://www.photo-gallery.dk/oversigt/lokaliteter/torup/preview_1of8.html

  Svend Bojsen 07/20/2009

• It is a great idea and concept and like to see a final product to be in everyone home...

  Modfinds 07/22/2009

• As long as we put this in the completely-unrealistic-only-super-doo-gooders-will-use category, and you put her in the art school dreamer who just happens to be good at math category, we'll all be fine.

  Lars 07/29/2009

• Brilliant execution. I particularly love the frame (and illustration) of sustainability as a process. Very well done. Cheers to you for caring to make a difference.

  Glenn 08/04/2009

• This is great. I can't say enough about it. Props to Virgina and her team, as well as Dwell for bringing this idea to light. When we complain about the lack of flying cars and colonizing planets we fail to realize that ideas like the "loowatt" are just as futuristic in their approach to managing centuries old issues like dealing with waste. In reading the comments my only gripe is that someone already shoots the idea down because they assume people "will not be willing to even broach the subject of solid waste". Its this "it'll never work" mentality that holds us all back more than anything else. Thanks Virginia!

  Harold 08/04/2009

• This concept deserves to be taken very seriously and further developed. Its ultimate success will depend on the purchase price, operating cost and the practicality of how the processing of those cartridges will be handled - individual household or municipal. I hope Virginia and her team are as good at marketing and attracting powerful investors as they were at designing the beginning stages of this brilliant idea. I can't wait to see how this evolves and becomes an attractive option to the environmentally costly toilets that are the norm today. With exploding populations everywhere we can't afford not to change.

  Chris 08/05/2009

• All sorts of people will become interested in this and similar when their town water becomes painfully expensive or their well water becomes contaminated. I like it but would prefer not to put my face right next to it for turning the crank. How about a stem secured on the wall with handle at hip height? onsider the population increase in only your own lifetime, however short or long thus far. We humans cannot wait to conserve water.

  Elizabeth Zois 08/10/2009

• Let's put our projects together! I'll take care of the pee. You take care of the poop! PS. I think you are friends with my good friend, Evans.

  Britta Riley 09/10/2009

• I up for being a beta tester if she needs some.

  Roma 09/25/2009

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