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Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

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Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#271

Post by halbritt »

ww520 wrote: post #46
bonestamp2 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine brought a toilet back from Japan with him when he moved back and I was always in envy. I'm looking at a Toto Neorest 700H right now, it's about $5000. Is that the kind of system you'd recommend or what are you using?

A Toto s550e is under $1000 and pretty much has all the feature you ever need, minus auto flushing.

This. I think I even have a cheaper version than that. Check Amazon for available washlets.

The mass-market Toto toilets are ~$250. Make sure you get the elongated bowl version. I have two in my house, one elongated and one round. The washlet for the round bowl was hard to source and it makes things somewhat cramped for larger people.

If I were doing it again, I'd replace the toilet with an elongated bowl version before adding a washlet.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#272

Post by halbritt »

jcims wrote: post #124
halbritt wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a couple of Toto toilets in my house. They have washlets that fit most of their products. I have one. I don't mean to overstate this, but it is life-changing. I can't imagine going back to a time when I used only paper and considered that sufficient.

Holy moly, how do you pick a specific toilet from that lineup? That's hilarious.

Unless you want something fancy, just check Amazon. The most commonly installed ones are obvious and quiet a bit cheaper.

I've installed a few toilets in my day and they were always a few hundred dollars. I was a bit blown away when I discovered that some of the nicer ones could be had for $5k.

Bathtubs similarly soar in price when one wants something a little fancier.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#273

Post by aplummer »

jnwatson wrote: post #266
chiefalchemist wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thx. I looked and couldn't find it mentioned per jet.

That’s because there aren’t any honest prices for a single jet. The R&D cost is so high that how one amortizes that can make 2 orders of magnitude difference in unit cost.

I assumed just what they sold them for per unit to other countries, but maybe they pitched in for R&D? Seems to range from 90-130. Maybe you get 2 if you buy the non navy version.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#274

Post by com2kid »

mikekchar wrote: post #34
com2kid wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most bathrooms aren't wired for electricity near the toilet. That aside, you can buy Toto toilets in the US. The fancy ones are north of 4k, but they are available. Cold water sprays are readily available, $60 and a 10 minute installation later.

I just wanted to point out that the US prices are pretty comparable to the Japanese prices. And after having lived in Japan for nearly a decade, I'll pay the price in a heartbeat. The previous occupants of our apartment left one in our apartment and it's one of the cheaper models (about $3-400 IIRC). It's still awesome and worth every cent. You could probably even justify it based on the reduction in toilet paper if…

Totally agree, I have a cold water replacement seat type of model, I can't justify getting my bathroom rewired when a $60 device is pretty close almost there. :)

My master bathroom toilet is right up against the closet my water heater is in, so the "cold" water is never that cold.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#275

Post by RichardCA »

specialist wrote: post #239
m_mueller wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that going from shitting in the woods to a well engineered and cheap toilet is a much more attractive step for most people than having them dig outhouses. It's like with the washing mashines - once electrification is there it's one of the first purchases since it's such a quality of life improvement, and this has happened for a majority of the world's population.

I just watched a segment on this (VICE, Vox, other?). In some places, the cultural taboo is cleaning the pit. So in parts of India, with a history of castes, the pits are made impracticably large, to that it never (rarely) needs to be emptied.

Was it this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V35Vw29tay0

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#276

Post by erikpukinskis »

kbenson wrote: post #241
mindfulplay wrote: post #18

This reminds me of software developer who favor deep, technical, architectural work instead of attractive, "sounds cool on paper" sort of work. To an outsider, the animations look cool but the engine that drives the animation is cooler to software engineers. Point being, this is not something a normal philanthropist would imagine being cool and awesome. This takes someone who actually cares about shit (in this case l…

Bill Gates is an amazing example of a driven, ambitious (and when called for by his ambition, ruthless) person and how those traits can lead to startlingly different perceptions of him based on what they are applied to. Bill Gates the businessman was ruthless in his pursuit of dominating the markets he was in, and was largely successful, to many people's dismay. Bill Gates the philanthropist is doggedly persistent in…

There are some common threads though. Forcing a monoculture of Windows machines tied to a Microsoft-controlled software ecology that hampered innovation vs. forcing a monoculture of GMO crops tied to a chemical corp-controlled farming ecology that hampers farming innovation.

He is good at solving big problems by forcing everyone to work the same way. Which is good until that becomes a stupid way of working that hurts everyone.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#278

Post by mikro2nd »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #232
mikro2nd wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a materials improvement, but an improvement in the shape of the bowl, so mostly a direct result of better hydrodynamic and CAD modeling. Not only do they use less water, but they /smell better/ -- most of the "smell of urine" results from the pee being added to, and reacting with, water, so no water, no noticeable odour.

They are plastic though, whilst water flushed toilets, eg in pubs, are always (?) ceramic. Seems that it could be retrofitted easily by replacing the trap if the materials aren't important. I wonder if patent expiration is responsible for the apparent increase in use of similar systems. Thanks for your correction. https://www.waterless.com/how-do-waterless-urinals-work/

Interesting; I've only ever seen ceramic waterless urinals.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#279

Post by goto11 »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #109

I admire Gates a lot, but for him and way too many technophiles the answer is somehow always tech. Africa does not have a toilet problem. Or a tech problem. Or even a resources problem. They have a lack of intelligent social organization problem; i.e. dysfunctional or non-existent institutions, laws and organizational structures, as well as myriad forms of corruption from top to bottom that make it impossible to crea…

> dysfunctional or non-existent institutions, laws and organizational structures, as well as myriad forms of corruption from top to bottom

But these problems are much harder to solve than toilets and malaria nets, which is difficult enough as it is.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#280

Post by conner_bw »

mindfulplay wrote: post #18

This reminds me of software developer who favor deep, technical, architectural work instead of attractive, "sounds cool on paper" sort of work. To an outsider, the animations look cool but the engine that drives the animation is cooler to software engineers. Point being, this is not something a normal philanthropist would imagine being cool and awesome. This takes someone who actually cares about shit (in this case l…

And the graphics card that drives the engine is cooler to hardware engineers.

And the mining capabilities of the graphics hardware is cooler to cryptocurrency investors.

Full circle?

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