This is Why We Exist
Gandhi’s words — “ Sanitation is more important than Independence” hold relevance even today.
Around 45% of Indians #Pee & #Poop in the Open. About 70% of human waste water in cities remain untreated and is discharged into the rivers. All most every one is scared to use public restrooms. Human scavenging is among the most inhuman and demeaning practices in modern India. Major metros like Bangaluru and New Delhi face severe water shortage. As a community of civilized and cultured humans, we’re struggling to keep our shit together.
India launched it’s maiden country wide campaign to raise sanitation consciousnesses in 2015, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan under the leadership of PM Modi. Before the program, Sanitation didn’t receive the attention it demanded. Although the prime focus of Swachh Bharat is to promote cleanliness around the country, the success of the initiative will depend heavily on considering Sanitation from a system’s perspective. For decades, we’ve kept focus on one only major stakeholder — the user. The design and make of Sanitation systems must evolve to include not just the aesthetics but the mechanics of the Sanitation process to make it more sustainable.
At Ekam Eco Solutions, we aspire to be the change and bring the change that Gandhi wanted us to make in our attitude towards Sanitation. We’re in the business of creating Humane, Hygienic & Sustainable Sanitation Products that Mimic Nature.
As we begin to understand Sanitation from a holistic point of view, the understanding of what makes an a sanitation system, that people want to use and which respects the other stakeholders’ as well, unfurls. This understanding has helped us identify the values that drive our product development activities —
Mimic Nature
Culturally we Indians are habituated to relieving ourselves in the nature. Primarily in the rural areas, men look forward to the cool breeze and a small walk to the field every morning. It’s massive challenge to change the mindset of one billion+ humans. Interestingly, if sanitation products can mimic ambience of an open field and the freshness that walking outside the home brings — people tend to respond.
If sanitation systems are designed to feel, appear and smell different from the natural surroundings, people become hesitant to use it. Such restrooms tend to seem alien to the users and aren’t frequently adopted. This need to build resemblance with nature, becoming one and similar to it — is imbibed deeply into our DNA. In fact the word Ekam translates as Oneness with Nature in Hindi. As a life long product development enthusiast, I’ve found some great design tips by observing the natural surroundings. The need to mimic nature is not limited to the aesthetics of a washroom. Albeit the process of waste assimilation and utilization is important to mimic too. For humans are created such that our #Pee and #Poop can be decomposed to provide essential nutrients, which can be used as fertilizers. Nature has made it possible for plants to use our waste if decomposed and made free of pathogens. We need to find, identify and make use of such hints, while designing sanitation systems. It’s only imperative that modern sanitation systems close the Agriculture - Sanitation - Agriculture loop to make sure nutrients don’t escape out of this value chain. We must not use the nutrients for us only.
You must give back what you borrow !
Humane
By being humane in our designs, we show compassion to the needs of users as well as build products to have a civilizing effect. As cultures and civilizations evolve, as people evolve, modern sanitation designs have to evolve as well. By constantly trying to think from our users’ perspective and accounting for the aspirations of the societies they’re a part of — we strive to stay relevant and useful. This makes it easier for users and other stake holders to see the value in our products. It’s important for us to design products and systems that have a civilizing effect. We believe that way we treat sanitation and waste treatment per se — says a lot about our society.
Hygienic
Lack of hygienic sanitation is one of prime causes of diseases and death. Naturally, cleanliness is godliness for us. Hygiene is not limited to visibly clean restrooms — but holds a larger purpose to improve overall health. It includes designs that promote dry, clean and bacteria free restrooms. It means better interaction design of restrooms — minimizing the contacts a person has from the time enters to the time he leaves the restroom.
Hygiene is ensuring that after every use, the restroom retains the freshness and is still inviting to use. Odor in restrooms is the biggest problem cleaning industry professionals face. We realize this and have created products to enable 100% odor free restrooms. This is crucial from the perspective of mimicking nature too. Lack of odor or a fresh fragrance lingering in the air encourages people to use the restroom. For too long, using public restrooms has been one of the most dreaded tasks. People are skeptic. Laser sharp focus on hygiene is thus essential for our products to succeed.
Hygiene is not limited to the users of such restrooms but includes the cleaning staff. It’s important for a modern sanitation company like ours to be mindful of all stakeholders — importantly for those who work daily to make these products successful. One of the problems we identified is use of chemical cleaners for restroom maintenance. Prolonged exposure to carcinogenic chemicals is bad of their health. CARE restroom cleaning products are a range of Enzyme based organic cleaning agent. Not only do enzyme based cleaners keep the washroom fresh, but are available for all sorts of cleaning purposes — totally getting rid of the chemicals from the sanitation value chain. Don’t forget that these chemicals directly flow into the water bodies, often untreated — absolutely NOGO for us!
Sustainable
It’s absolutely okay to milk mother nature. At the same time, it’s our duty to make sure we replenish what we take. Give back what you borrow. This intuitive Mensch principle drives our sense of sustainability.
Across Indian cities, we use up to 20% of all per capital consumption in toilets. Mumbai dumps 2100 Million Liters of human waste water into the sea DAILY. 70% of sewage is dumped into water bodies in our cities. Bangalore, Ahemdabad and many metros are struggling to get all the fresh water they need. The makes the frivolous use of water in restrooms is troubling for us. Unmindful dumping of untreated waste water is not SUSTAINABLE. It is slowly killing our water bodies.
Designing sanitation systems which have zero to very little footprint is the bottom line of our product development endeavors. Zerodor water less urinals save up to 2 liters of water from going down the flush in Men’s urinals. Sewage CARE helps cut down the sludge volume of in human waste by 50% and leaves behind organic by products which can be used in agriculture. It helps in closing the Agriculture-Sanitation-Agriculture loop and makes sure our water bodies don’t receive untreated waste water. CARE cleaning agents are enzyme based — which makes it usable for prolonged periods without any harmful impact on humans exposed to the cleaning process.
Sustainability is about the overall footprint of our sanitation systems. The earliest toilets were simple holes dug up in ground. People moved to a new place when necessary. As human population increased, we’re left with less space to live and open #Pee and #Poop is just not acceptable. It greatly adds to the risk of diseases through ground water contamination. However, not all is right yet. The Flush & Forget mindset means that we care little about how human waste is impacting the local environment. Our deep rooted values of creating sustainable products help us — in overcoming these challenges by improving the design of systems. Zero Waste systems seem a reality to us.
We’re driven by these values, not just in our product design but across all our decisions and conversations . It’s our firm belief that consistency over a couple of decades on these principles will help us build products that achieve significant market adoption. It’s not just about building sustainable products but a company that exists for years to come. As a company, it is all about sustainability too.
Based on these values, we’ve made significant progress across multiple products —
Zerodor Water less Urinals
Where is the problem? Why does the world need water less urinals? To begin with, flush urinals do not make sense. #PeePee is 95% water. It doesn’t need more water to drain away. It goes away by itself.
On top of that, almost everyone complains of odor in the restrooms. The odor is ammonia. But how did ammonia gets into the restroom? You guessed it, WATER! It’s the mixing of water and #PeePee that generates odor in the first place.
This is not enough.
You need maintenance often.
Flush urinals create a host of problems that make you call your maintenance team. Here are some of the reasons why:
- A person may avoid using the manual flush after relieving himself. His choice is justified for hygienic reasons, particularly in public restrooms. This, however, creates a sanitary mess for everyone else.
- Hydraulic flush may break down and need repair several times a year.
- Electronic flushes need you to replace the battery after every 5,000 uses. In a busy restroom, that can mean every month. On the other hand, in a they waste a large amount of water in a restroom that is not busy.
- In some situations, the water used to flush the urinals contains minerals. “Hard water” is extremely common in industrial areas. When this water is used to flush, it deposits sediments on the urinal pans and drainage lines. Not only do your restrooms smell much worse, your drainage lines are choked which means a hefty maintenance bill.
You make the environment choke
Almost 38% of the water used in offices is used in the restrooms. A flush urinal typically uses 4 to 6 liters of water per use. You can verify. If you look closely, you’ll see 1gpf or 1.5gpf written on top of the urinals. That means 1 Gallon, or 4 liters of water, is used Per Flush (GPF). Low-flush urinals still use 0.5 gpf.
Flush urinals are a terrible drain on the costs. I’ve written earlier how you can save thousands of liters of water, that goes down the drain every month. The sewage treatment plant burn carbon to treat it, causing one environmental hazard over another
Money goes down the drain
The maintenance bills and cost of water being flushed away eats away your bottom line. When your consumers are acting more consciously towards the environment, you are also losing the chance to show that you care too and win their trust.
How do waterless urinals solve these problems?
Zero Odor
Waterless urinals generate less odor by not using water in the first place. There are 4 different types of waterless urinals available. Each has a unique way to prevent odor from the drainage lines.
Zero Water
The only time a waterless urinal uses water is during the cleaning or replacement process. With Zerodor, we recommend a biweekly cleaning schedule that uses approximately 20 to 30 liters of water.
Less Sewage
Every time a man uses a Zerodor water less urinals to #Pee, he reduces the waste water volume by 2 liters. Across Indian cities, the infrastructure is just sufficient to treat 20–30% of all sewage generated. Zerodor reduces the burden on such STPs.
Over the last three years, 200+ large organizations have adopted water less urinals across India. We’re now at 5% mark roughly towards our mission of saving 20 Billion Liters of Water by 2020. Zerodor is just getting started.
Care Cleaning Products
This is our marque range of enzyme based cleaning products for maintenance of — Residential Washrooms and Public Restrooms. Chemical cleaners are far too harmful for cleaning professionals and the water bodies sewage flows into.
Restroom Care
Biologically advanced natural deep cleaner for all types of Sanitary Wares, Ceramic Bowls and Pans. It prevents any foul odor coming from toilet and urinal fixtures.
Surface Care
Useful for hard surfaces - Floors, Glass & Mirrors, Kitchen & Bathroom sinks and Household fixtures. Active microorganism based natural De-greaser, Cleaner and Odor Controller
Drain Care
Advanced Biological Treatment for restroom drains and floor traps, Organic and neutral solution that doesn’t damage the drainage lines. Digests salt depositions and body oil / fat based dirt, eliminates clogging and restores free flow
Bio Care Blocks
Biodegradable product for urinals, contains active micro organisms and blend of cleaning, water softening & odor eliminating agents. Eliminates odor, cleans, prevents blockages and saves water.
There’re a variety of other Organic, Enzyme based cleaning products available as well for different purposes. You can read more here.
Fecal Sludge Management
We mentioned Mumbai dumps 2100 Million Liters of human waste water in to the sea daily. In other large cities, similar large quantities of waste water meet the river channels or pollute the ground water resources. Lack of infrastructure to treat sewage isn’t helping either. At Ekam, we’ve jumped upon this opportunity to create a product that reduces the volume of sludge and converts into usable fertilizers.
Sewage Care Anaerobic
Designed for STP, ETP and On-Site Wastewater Treatment Facilities, reduces odor and surface scum in 24 to 48 hours, accompanied by reduction in solids, BOD and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Controls the COD, helps in saving energy and reduces excess sludge generation.
Sewage Care Aerobic
Designed especially for Sump Tanks, Collection Systems and Septic Tanks, reduces BOD and controls COD & Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Reduces the scavenging of septic tank cycles 8–10 times by degrading Fats, Oil, Grease, Starch, Proteins, Triglycerides, Foaming Surfactant, Soap, Phenols and Amines.
In a recent pilot concluded at Gurgaon faclity of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, 50% reduction in sludge volume was observed. Additionally, the by products of this process result into organic compounds which can used as fertilizers.
In a typical sanitation value chain like above, the utility of Sewage Care is apparent. It helps in rapid composting of solid waste into a fertility boosting organic byproduct. The most crucial aspect is that it helps in closing the Agriculture-Sanitation-Agriculture loop. Waste water is broken down to nutrient rich water and a fertile compost.
Hopefully, this is just the beginning. Our purpose is to create products all along the Sanitation Value Chain to make it more HUMANE, HYGIENIC and SUSTAINABLE. BETTER SANITATION FOR ALL.
There’re other fronts where we’re actively committed towards research and product development. Like Water less Urinals for Women, Modular Toilets, Urine Harvesting. Our aspiration is to bring to market modern sanitation systems that make India — a country of ideal villages and cities.
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