Loughborough Uni are number 2 at toilet fair!

The World's richest man, Bill Gates, is turning his attention momentarily away from computer software to concentrate on toilets. In a blog, Mr Gates said that flushing toilets "are irrelevant, impractical and impossible for 40% of the global population, because they often don't have access to water, sewers, electricity and sewage treatment systems".

Mr Gates set a challenge to inventors to produce a toilet that worked without water, electricity or a septic system, and which would cost no more than 3p a day to run. The designs for sustainable and environmentally friendly toilets were showcased at the Reinvent the Toilet fair in Seattle, which included several imaginative designs.

However, there could only be one winner of the £64,000 prize:

• in the number 1 spot was the California Institute of Technology, awarded the top prize for their solar powered toilet which generates hydrogen gas and electricity as it breaks down human waste;
• in the number 2 spot was Loughborough University which were awarded £38,400 for their lavatory that uses human waste to produce biological charcoal and minerals which can be used as fuel or on soil; and
• bringing up the rear was the University of Toronto in Canada, awarded £25,600 for their toilet which sanitises human waste and creates clean, reusable, water.

Although not a winner, Walter Gibson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had designed a toilet which uses fly larvae to process waste and create animal feed, which is already being tested in South Africa. We imagine it might create quite a buzz.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $370m to the future toilet initiative and hope to field test prototypes within the next three years.