Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Propelair (The refinement, miniaturisation and demonstration of an ultra low flush toilet capable of saving 2.8 billion litres of clean, potable water being unnecessarily wasted in Europe every day.)

Teaser

The Propelair project comprises the “refinement, miniaturisation and demonstration of an ultra-low flush toilet capable of saving 2.8bn litres of clean, potable water being unnecessarily wasted in Europe every day”. Phoenix Product Development Ltd is applying 20 years’...

Summary

The Propelair project comprises the “refinement, miniaturisation and demonstration of an ultra-low flush toilet capable of saving 2.8bn litres of clean, potable water being unnecessarily wasted in Europe every day”. Phoenix Product Development Ltd is applying 20 years’ experience to a project that will develop an innovative toilet that will reduce such water wastage.

The European Environment Agency reports that in Europe 70m people are currently living in water stressed conditions, and the UN has predicted that by 2025 people living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity will increase to 1.8bn people, while global water demand is projected to increase by 55% between 2015 and 2050.
A reason for this increasing water scarcity is the toilet, as flushing accounts for 90% of clean water use in non-residential buildings and 35% in domestic ones, with Europeans flushing away 102bn litres of clean water every day.

Propelair’s solution addresses the problem of water wastage by decoupling flush performance from the volume of water used through a novel, patented “displaced air” technology. The aim is to successfully refine, demonstrate and scale-up for market readiness an ultra-low water toilet with a flush volume of only 1.5 litres, reducing toilet water usage by 75% compared to a 6-litre standard dual flush toilet, or 84% compared to a 9-litre unit, and reducing total water process energy and carbon emissions by 70%. Installed in a commercial washroom, a single Propelair toilet will typically save 180,000 litres, delivering an average saving of €344 pa and a pay-back time of less than 2 years. The company expects revenues of €80m and EBITDA of €30m by 2023.

Work performed

During Period 2 the project has made significant progress. The focus of the work has been the carrying out of the large scale trials at the University of Exeter including the installation of toilets on site, in tandem with a review of the drains within each of the buildings in which toilets were being installed, as well as planning the monitoring of washrooms and drains.

Whilst the installation of the toilets was started during Period 2, the installation was not fully completed as the initial start was delayed in order to avoid clashing with new students starting at the university. In addition the first rollout in the Harrison building was paused in order to prove that the toilets and installation processes were robust enough to continue the roll out. We have been on site in Exeter in every month during Period 2, working on the testing and installation elements as part of the roll-out.

In addition to the progress made on the large-scale trials, significant progress has been made on the miniaturisation of the air pump and air pump motor and reducing the costs of both components of the toilet.

A further significant development has come through the increase of the number of test bays in our test laboratory which has enabled us to test the basic function of the Propelair WCs, but also replicate the EN997 tests prior to submission for test and certification by a UCAS accredited test house such as NSF or BSI. Our test facilities will also allow us to replicate tests including AS1171 & AS1172 (relevant to water regulations in Australia), ASME112.19.2 & CSA B45.1 (relevant to water regulations in USA & Canada) and BS EN 60335-1 & 2-84 (relevant to the Low Voltage Directive in Europe).

Final results

The main innovation of Propelair will be an environmentally friendly toilet with a low flush volume of 1.5 litres, which will not only be cost-effective but will also significantly improve current standards of hygiene, as well as being high performing, safe and reliable.

We aim to contribute significantly towards solving global water supply issues which are of increasing concern, as Europe alone flushes away 102bn litres of water every day. As such, there is an urgent need to find a solution to the wasting of essential water supplies, especially with an ever-increasing global population.

This project will demonstrate and bring to market an ultra-low flush toilet which will reduce average toilet water consumption by as much as 75%, thereby potentially saving 2.8bn litres of water that is currently wasted every day. In addition to the water savings, Propelair also aims to reduce by 70% the water treatment carbon emissions that are necessary for conventional toilets.

It is envisaged that Propelair will become an internationally renowned SME, with our toilets becoming the market leader in high-performance, ultra-low water usage technology, generating cost savings of some €344 per annum per toilet through reduced water bills and paybacks of their investment of under 2 years for commercial customers.
Should we be able to establish a global market penetration of 0.5%, our sales targets would be 21 million toilets. By 2024, we hope to generate revenue of €80m and EBITDA of €30m, as well as creating 323 jobs within the supply chain of our partners.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.propelairh2020.com.