Bio-loo answers call of nature

Foldable mobile toilet units that use bio-technology to treat human waste. [Photo by Yang Feiyue/China Daily]

He Hongchen proudly points at a camouflage booth the size of a toilet cubicle and then at the large green box it emerged from.

The booth is a foldable mobile toilet that uses bio-technology to treat human waste.

"We made the toilet for military use," says He, technical director with the Jiangsu-based Changzhou Huajian Eco-Technology Co.

In 2008, similar products helped local people answer call of nature without polluting the environment when many public facilities were destroyed in the magnitude-8.0 Wenchuan earthquake that left more than 90,000 people dead and missing in Sichuan province.

"The toilet doesn't need water," he explains. Electricity, however, is required.

Piles of wooden chips are laid in the tank, that contain 23 microorganisms that can turn feces into water, carbon dioxide and some ammonia gas.

The bio-treatment process kicks off 15 seconds after the guest finishes and shuts the door, He claims.

A slight odor may be emitted if the toilet is running at full capacity. But that should dissipate after 48 hours when microorganisms reproduce and come back in full force.

"The mobile ecological toilet can be used in tough environments such as deserts, and two adults are enough to move it around," He says.