If you’ve been paying attention to our blog, then you know we are a firm believer in ingenuity to help solve many of the water-related problems the world is facing. Waterless urinals, for example, have saved billions of gallons of water per year and will save billions more, now that more facilities are installing them.

This is just one example of how ingenuity, put to work, is addressing water concerns. There are many, many more.

However, we recently came across another ingenious invention that we found interesting. It does not deal with urinals specifically, or even saving water necessarily, but certainly applies to ingenuity and public restrooms.

In India, a couple of entrepreneurs have turned 12 old city buses into rolling public restrooms. Currently, these rolling restrooms, which are all painted pink, are for women only.  But they have become an instant success.

Plans for blue buses, for men, are right around the corner.

While they are referred to as “washrooms on wheels,” these really are not rolling washrooms. They typically are parked but moved at the end of the day.

Drivers try to park them in the same locations every day, so women know where to find them. Very often, women are already lined up at those locations, long before the bus arrives.

Users pay five rupees - about ten cents - to get on board. What they find are safe, hygienic, clean restrooms; something that can be very hard to find in many parts of India. The restrooms are cleaned regularly throughout the day. 

Further, they have water and electricity. As we shall discuss later, these are also a rarity in Indian public restrooms.

In addition to providing women with a safe, clean, and healthy restroom, they also are equipped with private breastfeeding and baby changing stations. While it may cost a few rupees more, these stations are equipped with sanitary towels, nappies (diapers), and other items used to care for babies.

They have become such a hit, the two entrepreneurs that started the company plan to add dozens more buses, parking them throughout India in the coming years.

But their inventiveness did not stop there. One of their significant obstacles to getting these washrooms on wheels rolling was energy. At first, they would leave the motors on the buses running, providing power to light the restroom areas and pump water to and from fixtures. But this became costly and produced harmful carbon dioxide. To address this, the buses were installed with solar panels mounted over the wheels.  This provides enough energy to light the buses and pump water.

As for water specifically the buses are filled in the morning. The waste is then properly deposited at the end of the day.

You might think this is all quite interesting, even cute. But then, you might not know that in India, finding a safe, clean, and healthy restroom with water and electricity is a rare find. The situation is so bad that the Prime Minister has created a program called “Clean India.” The main goal of the program is to build millions of public restrooms throughout the country during the decade.  That shows just how much they are needed.

For more information on how to reduce water consumption, waterless urinals, and to use water more efficiently, contact a Waterless Co Specialist