By: Varda Sharma
Hailing from Jaipur (Rajasthan) Neha Bagoria (MSc Computer Science) was familiar and deeply aggrieved by the problem of water scarcity in the state. She realized maximum water gets wasted, around 4-5 litres of potable water, every time we flush. She started doing intensive research on waterless technologies especially for urinals, which till date continues to be a largely unexplored area.
In 2011 with an initial investment of Rs 10,000 to fund research and product development and with two employees, to look after sales and operations, she founded Tapu Sustainable Solutions to develop restroom urinals that are hygienic, odourless and waterless.
There were challenges all along the way. Lack of awareness on waterless urinal was the biggest. “Most people are not aware about the benefits of potable water conservation and urinal sanitation. Due to lack of understanding people do not have access to such viable technology,” says Ms. Bagoria.
Then, lack of formal educational background in mechanical engineering also posed hurdle. “For me innovation has to out-of-the box solution with more of trial and error process,” she says. It was also challenging to do ground research work and trials in men’s washroom along with gathering end user feedback. Says Ms. Bagoria, “At times it was awkward for men to allow a woman in their restroom to gauge the working of product. But I never had any unpleasant instance to avert me from going ahead.”
In 2010, they rolled out their first basic patented version EcoTrapIn which gets fitted below the urinal bowl. The design and functionality of first version waterless urinal further got improved with upgraded versions EcoTrapInPlus (2014) and EcoTrapInXtra (2016). In 2015 Tapu got a grant of Rs. 10 lakhs from department of scientific and industrial research, government of India. The first version has been phased out.
Waterless and odourless urinals
EcoTrapInPlus gets fitted below the urinal bowl and consists of an antibacterial inlet/outlet through which urine passes and a float that seals the outlet once urine is drained out. This can be installed in basic urinal which is without coupling.
EcoTrapInXtra , which too gets fitted at the base of urinal bowl, consists of an inlet and outlet antibacterial cartridge through which urine passes and seals the outlet once the urine is drained out. This can be installed in urinal which has standard coupling hole.
“These are retrofit patent waterless urinal technology that work for a year and converts conventional urinal into odourless without the requirement of any deodorizer, cartridge and other cleaning chemical etc.,” says Vijay
Kumar, operation executive. Once fitted, these help in saving 1,67,900 litres of portable water per urinal annually. “Both are manufactured using antibacterial material in Mumbai,” he adds.
The touch-free products are recyclable and cost around Rs 8 per day and help in saving in utility bills – water charges, cleaning agents, plumbing, repairing service, electricity, battery, etc.
The team did pilot sales for State Bank of India, S.P. Jain Management Institute, Arihant Industrial Corporation Ltd. and other commercial establishments in Mumbai. After foothold in Mumbai, they are currently operational across India and the customers (more than 20) are largely corporate, government offices, large manufacturing units, hotels etc. “EcoTrapIn technology has successfully saved 53,00,000 gallons of potable water till date,” says Ms. Bagoria.
Says Viren Shah, Chairman Arihant Industrial Corporation Ltd. “maintaining clean and hygienic washrooms in offices has always been a challenge. The waterless and odourless urinals have helped in solving this issue immensely in our office at Vasai as also our dependence on water tankers.”
There is now a plan to implement the technology at rural cities of India and save tons of potable water with enhanced men’s sanitation. “We understand women hygiene is different than men, so we are currently doing research and development for women waterless urinal as well. Also we plan to target water scarce countries for water conservation and good restroom hygiene,” says Ms. Bagoria. To be able to achieve these, Tapu is looking for Rs. 1.5 crore funding.
“Ours is a visionary global contribution to conserve valuable resources of planet Earth. Through our waterless urinal products, we not only desire to help in water conservation but create ecosystem with viability, in life harbouring environment values,” says Ms Bagoria.
(In the pic: Neha Bagoria (founder); EcoTrapIn Plus and EcoTrapInExtra)
Founder: Neha Bagoria
Founded: 2011
Location: Mumbai
Website: www.Tapu.co.in
