Samsung creates prototype toilet for the poor with Gates Foundation

Samsung Electronics Co. has wrapped up a project to develop a prototype toilet for the world’s poorest communities billed Reinvent the Toilet (RT) project with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The South Korean tech giant had participated in the RT project for the past three years.

According to the firm, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology recently completed the development of the toilet's fundamental technologies and created a prototype for use in homes. The toilet is "energy-efficient with effluent treatment capability," the company added.

To "generate innovative solutions that can protect people and communities from human waste-borne pathogens and enable governments to deliver truly inclusive sanitation services that reach the poorest communities," the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene program under the Gates Foundation launched the RT Challenge in 2011.

During the commercialization phase, Samsung intends to grant developing nations licenses to patents associated with the initiative without charging them any royalties.

More than 3.5 billion people worldwide live in unhygienic conditions, which contributed to more than 500,000 diarrhea-related deaths in 2016.