Giving a crap about sanitation

Change: Water Labs is providing safe sanitation to those who don’t have access to it. Our low-cost, portable toilets use a simple membrane to rapidly evaporate 95% of sewage without using any type of energy. This innovative technology provides homes with a working toilet, without the need for power or plumbing.

Around the world, 2.6 billion people can’t flush, and when flushing isn’t an option, the alternatives are dumping or hauling which are dangerous and costly, in terms of health and the cost of removing raw sewage. A deeper problem exists for women and girls. Studies have shown that girls are 50% more likely be raped or sexually assaulted when they don’t have a toilet in their home as they have to use public toilets. They are also more likely to drop out of schools without working toilets.

By providing an affordable option to poorer communities, we’re giving people the dignity they deserve, as well as improving health and prosperity for the wider area.

Funding would allow us to…

Cut the crap and bring our revolutionary toilet to those who desperately need it around the world. Specifically, we would complete our pilot trials, finish designing the toilet and secure our manufacturing.

By next year, we would be able to provide a working toilet to 10,000 families without sanitation, improving the health of their children and improving the safety of their mothers and daughters. Helping to clean up the communities where these families live, also reduces the risk of disease for another potential 5 million neighbouring these areas.

Being a mum was the motivation I needed…

I’ve been working in innovation for social impact for many years. But what led me to take the leap and launch a social venture was becoming a mother. Suddenly, I needed to work on things that really mattered! If I was going to justify time away from my two young daughters, whatever I was doing really had to count. I wanted to find a solution that addressed both future sustainability of the planet and greater empowerment for girls. I landed on sanitation - a problem for which a solution has such profound multiplier effects in terms of positive social, environmental and economic impact.