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New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

phys.org

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Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#31

Post by toast0 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #23
hanniabu wrote: post #19

Why don't we use grey water to flush toilets? It can use water either from the bathroom sink or shower.

Honestly, I do. I've placed a bucket in the sink to capture waste water from washing hands, which is then reused for flushing the toilet after depositing... liquid contents in it. It saves a bit off the water bill and also made me realize just how much water I use up when washing hands... Of course I hide the bucket when guests come, it's too weird a thing - but in all honesty, I've wished many times for a system for…

As of now, very few buildings have separate grey and black water plumbing. In the event that you did have separate plumbing in the building, you would need separate plumbing in the street as well.

Unless you live in a very water constrained area, it's pretty unlikely. In the US, plumbing for reclaimed water is available in some areas (purple pipes), and seems like an easier intervention, it's often used for landscape irrigation, which has easily accessible plumbing to retrofit. It can be used for toilet flushing as well, if that is plumbed separately from other fixtures in the building.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#32

Post by [deleted] »

birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

[deleted]

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#33

Post by toomuchtodo »

@birgitt: Instead of a labor intensive process of spraying and paper or cloth, could you not include the lubricant in a separate reservoir and apply a bit with each flush, avoiding the need for a manual process? Or perhaps have an automatic cycle where the bowl drains, the lubricant is applied, and then water is supplied to refill the bowl after a period of time has elapsed (if necessary)?

It seems manual application is likely to slow adoption IMHO. If automated, seems like a slam dunk for heavy use/commercial/public applications though.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#34

Post by option_greek »

birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

Awesome product and its good to see that price is kept affordable. Many comments here don't seem to appreciate the use case (public toilets) in places with high footfalls and high density (basically every public place in India).

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#35

Post by dheera »

birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

Is this similar to LiquiGlide? https://www.fastcompany.com/1679878/mits-freaky-non-stick-co...

If not, what are the pros and cons of using LiquiGlide in a toilet vs. yours?

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#37

Post by strainer »

birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

Sounds promising but I personally need more info or at least certification on new products safety characteristics. I wont go into an alarmist list, but some materials "based on silicone" are problematic and some are flat out hazardous. Probably this one is not, but more info is due.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#38

Post by [deleted] »

HorizonXP wrote: post #17
gpm wrote: post #14

500 flushes is less than a year for a toilet used twice a day (say before and after bed), I hope that coating is cheap, easy to apply, and doesn't create substantial pollution either as it is created or used. I hope the sewer system doesn't need to just add water as a result. Toilet water use doesn't seem like a big enough contributor to the problem that it's much use optimizing it in most places. But there are proba…

I tend to agree, but I (and maybe you) live in the Great Lakes region where water is abundant and cheap. Optimizing water use just doesn't seem worth it. But I can totally see this coating helping in regions like India, who have a real problem with open-air defecation.

[deleted]

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#39

Post by Semaphor »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #23
hanniabu wrote: post #19

Why don't we use grey water to flush toilets? It can use water either from the bathroom sink or shower.

Honestly, I do. I've placed a bucket in the sink to capture waste water from washing hands, which is then reused for flushing the toilet after depositing... liquid contents in it. It saves a bit off the water bill and also made me realize just how much water I use up when washing hands... Of course I hide the bucket when guests come, it's too weird a thing - but in all honesty, I've wished many times for a system for…

I’ve heard that newer houses (this was over 15 years ago though) here in Germany often use shower/bath water for the toilet.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#40

Post by acquacow »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #23
hanniabu wrote: post #19

Why don't we use grey water to flush toilets? It can use water either from the bathroom sink or shower.

Honestly, I do. I've placed a bucket in the sink to capture waste water from washing hands, which is then reused for flushing the toilet after depositing... liquid contents in it. It saves a bit off the water bill and also made me realize just how much water I use up when washing hands... Of course I hide the bucket when guests come, it's too weird a thing - but in all honesty, I've wished many times for a system for…

You can put a small sump pump with a pressure switch in the bucket, and an overflow setup back into the normal drain. This way when the toilet flushes, the sump will kick on and fill the toilet and keep pressure on the water line feeding it. Any excess sink water will overflow out the upper hose on the bucket and go into the normal drain.
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