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> “Like, a scrambling-for-your-toilet-water-every-month kind of thing.” A few years ago I saw this coming and invented the Waterless Toilet. It's like a kitty

> “Like, a scrambling-for-your-toilet-water-every-month kind of thing.” A few years ago I saw this coming and invented the Waterless Toilet. It's like a kitty litter box but for people who live in areas like those discussed in the article. Why scramble for toilet water when you can just use the Waterless Toilet? I've been trying to get funding for this so please reach out if interested.

gigaflop 4y ago
The Litter Bot people might beat you to it. They have a semi-automatic solution that works for cats, and they can probably reuse a lot of their existing patents to build a human-compatible device. Maybe it would still be usable by cats, too?
kuzuman 4y ago
Scoundreller 4y ago
There's many designs that are used all over. I like my cabin's privy and going to do some upgrades to make it odourless: solar powered exhaust fan. In the desert where the water table is hundreds of feet below you (and getting lower!), groundwater contamination isn't exactly an issue. But there's also composting toilets and incinerating toilets that exist. A fancy incinerating toilet costs like $5k (Cinderalla toilet, I'm looking at you!), but I'm sure they'll cost a fraction of that in time. But there is an electricity cost to each 'flush' then.
blastro 4y ago
Buckminster Fuller made a few designs for this, as well.
occz 4y ago
Interesting. How is this different from a composting toilet? Those are already an available option for people with limited access to water and sewage infrastructure.
- paulcole 4y ago
  This is just a plastic box filled with kitty litter.
galdosdi 4y ago
I wish you the best, but having looked into these topics when I was interested in RVs a few years ago, I think there's no market for your proposal because the market is already well served by (at the higher end) composting and incinerating toilets, which are clearly more palatable, and, at the lower end, just putting kitty litter in a bucket with an optional toilet cover, which you can already do for nearly free. I think most people who really wanted a waterless toilet would already fall into one of those two camps (cheap and crummy or expensive and fancy) leaving little room for your product, which would be both more expensive than just putting kitty litter in a bucket, yet not really all that much more palatable, since you still have to dispose of the used material, which is really the essential "annoying" part that would make one want a fancier option. You are forced to figure out how to deliver enough value to be clearly better than shitting in a bucket, yet not much more expensive, to avoid competing with composting or incinerating toilets. I wonder if you actually might do better starting from a composting design and trying to improve it to make it more cost effective. Sorry for the pessimism, just some things to think about! Maybe there is a path through, wish you the best.

gigaflop 4y ago

The Litter Bot people might beat you to it. They have a semi-automatic solution that works for cats, and they can probably reuse a lot of their existing patents to build a human-compatible device. Maybe it would still be usable by cats, too?

kuzuman 4y ago

Scoundreller 4y ago

There's many designs that are used all over. I like my cabin's privy and going to do some upgrades to make it odourless: solar powered exhaust fan. In the desert where the water table is hundreds of feet below you (and getting lower!), groundwater contamination isn't exactly an issue. But there's also composting toilets and incinerating toilets that exist. A fancy incinerating toilet costs like $5k (Cinderalla toilet, I'm looking at you!), but I'm sure they'll cost a fraction of that in time. But there is an electricity cost to each 'flush' then.

blastro 4y ago

Buckminster Fuller made a few designs for this, as well.

occz 4y ago

Interesting. How is this different from a composting toilet? Those are already an available option for people with limited access to water and sewage infrastructure.

paulcole 4y ago
This is just a plastic box filled with kitty litter.

galdosdi 4y ago

I wish you the best, but having looked into these topics when I was interested in RVs a few years ago, I think there's no market for your proposal because the market is already well served by (at the higher end) composting and incinerating toilets, which are clearly more palatable, and, at the lower end, just putting kitty litter in a bucket with an optional toilet cover, which you can already do for nearly free. I think most people who really wanted a waterless toilet would already fall into one of those two camps (cheap and crummy or expensive and fancy) leaving little room for your product, which would be both more expensive than just putting kitty litter in a bucket, yet not really all that much more palatable, since you still have to dispose of the used material, which is really the essential "annoying" part that would make one want a fancier option. You are forced to figure out how to deliver enough value to be clearly better than shitting in a bucket, yet not much more expensive, to avoid competing with composting or incinerating toilets. I wonder if you actually might do better starting from a composting design and trying to improve it to make it more cost effective. Sorry for the pessimism, just some things to think about! Maybe there is a path through, wish you the best.