Will Bill Gates Build Toilet 2.0?

14.07.2011
Ever since ditched Microsoft for a life of , he's applied his billions toward numerous worthy causes. In February 2011, for instance, Gates donated $100 million to a global .

Well, here's more proof that Gates 2.0 is flush with good ideas: Time the retired tech magnate wants to "reinvent the toilet" for developing nations. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has entered into a joint venture with the German government to improve sanitation in poor urban areas. German taxpayers are contributing $10 million to the 5-year project, which strives to bring sanitation facilities to 800,000 people in Kenya, as well as clean drinking water to 200,000.

The Time article, originally published in includes a shocking statistic from UNICEF: 1.1 billion people worldwide don't have access to any kind of toilet. Nor do they have other hygienic ways to dispose of bodily wastes. These poor sanitary conditions pollute drinking water and can cause diarrhea.

Brave New Toilet?

Unfortunately, the tried-and-true water closet of developed countries is too wasteful for poorer regions with limited sources of water. The Gates Foundation's Water, Sanitation & Hygiene department is working on two alternatives.

One low-tech solution supports the building of pit latrines in toilet-free areas. A second project gives grants to scientists who come with creative ways to dispose of wastes.