“Half the world needs a toilet while the other half needs a better one.”
That’s according to the Bill and Melinda Gate’s Foundation. It’s critical the 3.5 billion people who currently lack safe sanitation options get them. But what’s wrong with the rest of our toilets? A few things, it turns out:
- Flush toilets hog precious water and flush nutrients down the drain.
- They often pollute the environment and can spread disease.
- Wastewater treatment plants and the infrastructure needed to maintain them are expensive.
- And there are better options.
Last month, I visited the exhibit, “A Better Way to Go: Toilets and the Future of Sanitation.” It’s at the Discovery Center in Seattle, curated by the Bill and Melinda Gate’s Foundation. Here’s a peak at what’s inside.
Would you dare drink from a toilet?

This is a drinking fountain, made with a real, but unused toilet. Being so close to a toilet while sipping perfectly clean water may bring up irrational feelings of yuck or eww. I like how this toilet-drinking fountain exposes a gut-level reaction we may not even know is there.
What’s on tap?

I hoped to sample recycled water, called potable reuse — wastewater cleaned to drinking water quality — but there wasn’t any. Tasting options were Seattle city water, carbon-filtered water and bottled water.
But isn’t all this water recycled?
Earth’s water has been here from the beginning. It’s the same water the dinosaurs drank (and peed out). In the past, public resistance called the “yuck factor” has impeded recycled water projects. But with more droughts and more science showing how safe this water is, attitudes are shifting.
- A recent study surveyed over 2,000 Americans and found nearly half would try it, with another third uncertain.
- Another study showed the potable reuse water was cleaner than both tap water or ground water.
- And it’s a winner in the blind taste tests, too — people preferred it to the tap water.
From poo to plants

These lovely planters thrive with composted poo — called biosolids. It’s compost from a wastewater treatment plant where poop was transformed into nutrient-rich soil. In the past, biosolids were contamination from heavy metals and other harmful chemicals. But now, in places like Washington state, regulations require industries to pre-treat their wastewater, so biosolids are much cleaner.
This display, created by artist Vaughn Bell, reminds us to put our poo to good use and keep it out of the landfill. In the US, nearly half of biosolids are either dumped into a landfill where they spew methane, or they’re incinerated.
Toilets from other lands

In the real bathroom at the exhibit, you’ll find picture of toilets from around the world; a pit latrine in Durban, South Africa, a latrine inside a hut in Mozambique and one in India, with a door made of hanging fabric. The picture on each stall door is so realistic that the flush toilet inside feels out of place.
Meet the poo doctor

Your poop has a message about your health. These wooden turds are carved into shapes matching what’s called the Bristol Stool Scale. Do you need more fiber in your diet? More water? To find out, match up the shape of your poop to this scale.
Flush with innovation

Over the past decade, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a challenge — to reinvent the toilet. Winning toilets must work without hooks-ups to outside power, water or sewer. They have to kill pathogens, recycling nutrients, look good and be affordable.
Some of the winning toilets were solar-powered, made electricity, charcoal, fuel gas or clean water.
This all sounds amazing, but the complexity of these toilets gives me pause. (And they aren't yet affordable.) Who will maintain such a complex piece of equipment in the places around the world where people need toilets? These spots are often rural or have high rates of poverty.
Doing your business

These companies really have their sh*t together.
Sanergy in Kenya is like an eco porta-potty service. They deliver toilets to those in need, then pick up the full containers.
Poop is composted with black-soldier fly larva. These voracious grubs transform poop into fertilizer and animal feed for local farmers.
In India, Loo Cafes offer free high-tech public toilets. An attached cafe funds the upkeep costs.
Visit the exhibit in Seattle
This exhibit is free and open Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Confirm hours and details here.