bioloos - Sustainable Solution to the Sanitation Challenge

Sanitation facilities, globally, and in India are alarmingly poor. Half of India's population, 600 million people, have no access to toilets. People are forced to defecate in the open. This poses health hazards, raises environmental concerns and leads to water contamination. This is coupled with the Indian Railways’s open-chute toilet system wherein the human waste drops on the rail tracks. Untreated fecal matter lying in the open is a grave threat to the well-being and good health of the society and the environment and a threat to sustainable living.

Banka BioLoo’s solutions address the following needs/pain points of the end-user:

• Meet the need for basic, easy-to-install and hygienic human waste disposal mechanism in areas with no infrastructural facilities currently.
• Address the need for a cheaper and easy-to-operate alternative to the traditional waste disposal system.

Bioloos treat the human waste at source - no need to carry, no spoiling of environment or groundwater, and don't need any energy, no heavy infrastructure required. On the contrary, the system leaves pathogen-free water as effluent that can be re-used. For large bio-tanks, methane can be collected and used. These can be installed anywhere, without specification of land type, terrain, distance, etc.

The bio-toilet system disposes human waste:

• in 100% eco-friendly manner
• saves energy
• conserves water
• produces bio-gas

The entire concept of bio-toilet (or bioloo) is socially and environmentally driven. In India, many marginalized sections and the not so better off communities (rural and urban) don’t have access to sanitation facilities. The bioloos are an affordable and durable solution to the challenge of lack of toilets, as also help in waste treatment at site. Women are at greater risk, and suffer loss of security and dignity, including higher hygiene need, for want of a toilet. Bioloos tackle all these.

The project has positive impact on society, health and environment. The notable variables are number of people who no more defecate in the open, their health has improved and are not prone to diseases, the quantity of human waste treated and the amount of water recycled.

The bioloos have:

• Enabled access to hygienic sanitation to families, schools, members of public, on-site workers, and notably to rail passengers
• Treated human waste and saved/ recycled water; as effluent water from the bio-toilet system is re-used, need for fresh water from municipal sources is reduced
• Railways’s bio-toilets: better hygienic conditions for millions (and increasing) of people living near tracks
• Families and communities, with access to bioloos, don't defecate in the open, their health has improved as human waste is not littered
• Womenfolk use bioloos and have no fear of security, and have a sense of dignity

Our bioloo model is scalable and replicable across geographical areas or terrains, suited for all income groups and social backgrounds, apt for urban, peri-urban and rural areas, beaches, or hilly areas – almost anywhere. The bacteria can withstand temperatures from -5°C to 50°C.

Beginning with a state or two in 2012, today we have installations in 20 Indian states, and growing. We are in the process of developing local partnerships with for-profit enterprises or non-profit organizations with a similar commitment and vision.

We are working on ways to take the bacterial culture to other countries, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa.