iPee
Water waste is a huge issue, and cities are shifting to become more responsible for their usage. Three Belgium inventors developed the pertly named iPee in 2018, which aims to solve excessive water usage in public toilets caused by their automatic flushers. The iPee claims that automatic toilets are not only irritating at times but also waste a great deal of water when they flush by accident or prematurely. The iPee is a toilet with an embedded sensor that detects when somebody has actually used it by measuring salt content in the water. Depending on salinity, the toilet is able to determine how much needs to be used for a flush, and measures how much water needs to be flushed. The toilet also can detect clogs, and cut off the water supply to the toilet to prevent flooding. The device is marketed mainly towards use in public spaces but also sells products for private homes. However, the price for one unit appears to be quite hefty, starting at over €1,300, which bought en masse for public venues within cities could be quite expensive, and it would have to be weighed against the cost associated with water waste. However, iPee does represent the growing interest in the public sector in creating smart city solutions, and solutions like this will likely only grow in number and ingenuity.
“About.” iPee. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.ipee.eu/nl-professioneel
Ho, Crystal and Robin Hicks. “From breathing walls to rain harvesting canopies, the coolest tech at Singapore’s Green Building week.” Eco-Business, September 9, 2018. https://www.eco-business.com/news/from-breathing-walls-to-rain-harvesting-canopies-the-coolest-tech-at-singapore-green-building-week/
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