The Joy of Shitting in Drinking Water

I often ask people a simple question:

“What is most important with a toilet you want to use?” 

The answers are almost always the same:

• Clean
• Doesn’t smell
• Feels safe
• Privacy

Nobody ever says:

“I really enjoy the feeling of dropping my turd into clean drinking water.”

But that is exactly what the modern flush toilet is built around. Clean drinking water. Porcelain. Splash. Sometimes Poseidon’s kiss.

Civilization.

If you explain this to a Martian

Martian: “So let me understand. You take your clean drinking water…” Human: “Yes.”

Martian: “Then you poop in it?” Human: “Correct.”

Martian: “Then you mix it with urine, chemicals, and industrial waste?” Human: “Yes.”

Martian: “Then you pump it long distances in very expensive pipes?” Human:“Yes.”

Martian: “Then you try to clean it again so you can drink it?” Human:“Yes.”

Martian: “Even in places where you don’t have enough water to drink?” Human:“…Yes.”

Martian: “And this is your best idea?” Human: “It’s called modern sanitation.” Martian: “On my planet we would call that a design flaw.”

Then you try a container-based toilet

The first thing people notice? No splash. No Poseidon’s kiss.

More of a “thud.”

Different user experience. Same important things:

• Clean
• No smell
• Safe
• Works every time

Turns out people don’t actually want to shit in water. They just want a clean, safe toilet.

We have confused water with hygiene. They are not the same thing.

Final Friday thought

We take drinking water, shit in it, flush nutrients away from agriculture, spend huge amounts of energy cleaning the water, so we can pump it back as drinking water, so we can shit in it again.

That is not a sanitation system. That is a very expensive transport system for shit.

Maybe the biggest sanitation innovation is simply to stop shitting in our drinking water.

Happy Friday.

Birger “Burger” Lundgren, Sanitation Ambassadors NPC