Out of necessity, pit latrines are the toilet of choice for hundreds of millions of people around the world. When they become full, these pits of poo have to be emptied – often by hand (well, technically, buckets). Needless to say, it’s a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad job.
Enters the adorably named Vacutug. It is a gasoline-powered four-foot-tall vacuum-pump conveyance that sucks human effluent out of holes in the ground at a lickity-split 1,700 liters a minute. Then, traveling at 5 kph on recycled wheels, it transports its odious load to treatment facilities.
Nonprofits and environmentalist groups hope that more Vacutugs can come to the aid of the world’s billion poor people who lack plumbing — and who typically empty their pit latrines by hand, often into the nearest river, ocean, or lake.
From the Upcoming
ueue, submitted by anneli rufus.
