The Clear Enviro Loo Backend Sanitation Treatment Plant has achieved good results, following the two-year evaluation and pilot testing of the recycling toilet system in two schools, as well as in an informal housing development.

The pilot testing at schools have reduced absenteeism by 80% while pilot testing at the informal settlement has been widely accepted.

A first of its kind in South Africa, the Clear Enviro Loo Sanitation Treatment Plant is a new generation ‘Reinvent the Toilet’, introduced locally as part of the South African Sanitation Technology Evaluation Programme (SASTEP), an initiative spearheaded by the Water Research Commission (WRC).

Originally developed in China by Clear (Suzhou) Environmental Technology Company, the system is now locally manufactured at the Enviro Loo factory in Gauteng. A solar option allows for the system to be 100% off-the-grid. One Clear Enviro Loo Sanitation Treatment Plant can save more than 16 million litres of water at an approximate value of R576 000 over 5 years.

Without the need for sewer connections and a continuous water supply, the Clear Enviro Loo Sanitation Treatment Plant treats wastewater and kills pathogens by means of a natural, organic process.   

The odourless, zero discharge self-contained treatment plant can be located near to classrooms, ensuring the safety of leaners and alleviating long walks to ablution blocks traditionally located on school boundaries.  New or existing ablution facilities with multiple toilet seats can be utilised making the Clear Enviro Loo Sanitation Treatment Plant ideal for schools, clinics, housing projects or anywhere that does not have access to a continuous water supply.

This aspirational product is to transform the lives of individuals, as well as empowering communities, by providing an off-the-grid, fully recycling and flushing, cost effective, sustainable, and dignified sanitation system. In line with the Enviro Loo philosophy of empowerment through job creation, contractors, servicing, and janitorial staff are sourced as far as possible from local communities.

How it works

Bacteria is introduced into a closed-circuit tank that biodegrades the organic pollutants contained in black wastewater and reduces their concentration. The wastewater is treated within a membrane biological reactor, which separates the pollutants. The treated water is then further disinfected via a UV process before being recirculated for the next flush.

This process ensures an odourless system with clear water that does not stain the ceramic toilet bowl. The spread of harmful pathogens is prevented reducing the risk of infectious disease caused by poor sanitation – all the while saving water resources.