Samsung Electronics, in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, completed the development of a prototype toilet that is safe and designed for home use.
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), the research and development arm of Samsung Electronics, started developing the toilet in 2019 in response to the "Toilet Reconstruction Challenge" initiated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The department recently completed the development of the toilet's core technology and successfully developed and tested a prototype.
The institute unveiled the prototype at a ceremony at its building in Suwon, South Korea, in the presence of SAIT president and director Jin Gyo-young, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation deputy for water, sanitation and health Director Doulaye Kone and Sun Kim, Senior Program Officer at the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Health, and SAIT researchers involved in the project.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair Bill Gates on August 16 to discuss the results of the Reinventing Toilet project and exchange views on global social contribution initiatives . During the meeting, Bill Gates shared the foundation's philanthropic vision and ongoing initiatives, and Lee Jae-yong expressed his commitment to using Samsung's technology to help solve the challenges facing humanity.
Samsung plans to provide developing countries with royalty-free licenses of patents related to the project during the commercialization phase. Samsung will also continue to provide close consultation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help bring the technology to mass production. After making the design more efficient for mass production, the two organizations will work together to find industry partners willing to commercialize the technology.
During three years of research and development, SAIT worked on the basic design and developed components and modular technology, culminating in a successful prototype toilet for home use. The product has energy savings and wastewater treatment capabilities that meet the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation performance requirements for the commercialization of home reinvented toilets.
Core technologies developed by Samsung include thermal and biological treatment technologies to kill pathogens in human excreta and make the discharged sewage and solids safe for the environment. The system enables the treated water to be fully recycled. Solid waste is dehydrated, dried and burned to ash, while liquid waste is treated through a biological purification process.
Launched in 2011, the Toilet Redesign Challenge is an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop transformative toilet technology that can safely and effectively manage human waste.
According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, around 3.6 billion people worldwide are forced to use unsafe sanitation facilities, resulting in 500,000 deaths of children under the age of 5 each year due to limited access to safe water and sanitation. Diarrheal disease.
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