A team of University of Toronto engineers is getting a cash boost to develop a waterless toilet.

The team has received a $2.2-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to keep working on a toilet intended for the developing world.

The 15-month grant comes after the team placed 3rd in the Foundation's "Reinventing the Toilet Challenge."

The goal is to build a self-contained toilet that works without running water, a sewer system or electricity & costs no more
than 5 cents/day, per user.

Professor Yu-Ling Cheng's team is using a sand filter & UV disinfection to process liquid waste & a smoulder chamber, similar to a charcoal
barbecue to incinerate solid waste that's been flattened & dried in a roller-belt assembly.

The next stage involves work to simplify the process, reduce the mechanical complexity & minimize odour.

The team hopes to have a working prototype by December 2013.

(files from The Canadian Press, photo University of Toronto)