Bill Gates looks into toilets

American Standard and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are putting their heads together to develop a low cost toilet system for developing countries.

The goal is “to develop a safe, affordable latrine for the developing world that does not require a water and sewer based infrastructure,” said project director, Jim McHale, Ph.D., who is vice president of engineering with American Standard.

The new initiative hopes to develop and test a low-cost prefabricated toilet that will prevent flies from entering and exiting the pit below the latrine.

It is estimated that 1.6 million people, mostly children, die each year from water and sanitation related diseases.