Indian toilets are a real pain for some of us given its unorthodox style that could affect our joints and knees in the longer run. It requires squatting and the whole body's strength is transferred onto our knees. This design is now a thing of the past and we can thank 26-year old Satyajit Mittal, a student of design at the Pune based MIT (Maharashtra Institute of Technology) Institute of Design, for his wonderful innovation called SquatEase.
Satyajit Mittal/SquatEase
Speaking exclusively to Indiatimes, Satyajit revealed how this idea came to fruition. "It all started in 2015 at MIT Institute of Design under my design mentor Prof. Dhimant Panchal, Director, MIT Institute of Design, Pune in one of the courses called Special Needs. With the rise of Swachh Bharat mission which was launched in 2014, I was amused to know how many? people in India did not have access to proper toilets", he said.
Credit/Navin Devnani Torres
His designer instinct prompted him to think about an alternative design which could ease the pain for Indian toilet users. "I researched on the many problems faced by the users and started talking to the and went on to design SquatEase, there were a lot of iterations, trials and testing involved while making this new ergonomic toilet pan", he added.
Satyajit was also the recipient of? the Nidhi Prayas Innovation Grant by Nidhi Prayas Center, Science and Technology Park, Pune promoted by NSTEDB, Dept. of Science and Technology, Government of India. For this, he was awarded a grant of Rs. 10 lakh which further helped him bring to life 'SquatEase'.
From a class room project to a mass manufactured product to Kumbh Mela
Over 5,000 toilet pans were installed in the Kumbh Mela which were provided by his company and it turned out a great testing ground for the visitors thronging the mela from world over. "It was great to see the response we got from the user as well as the cleaners as the defecation spot was close to the drain and easy to pour flush. It feels good to see the impact it has created", he said.
SquatEase at Kumbh Mela
'SquatEase' toilets' ergonomic and pain-free designs has its benefits
- Accessible for everyone including the Visually Challenged and other differently abled.
- Toilet is a place for everyone. This includes the problems faced by the visually challenged and people with stress on knees.
SquatEase
- Comfort for Squatting- The squat toilet? can be extremely uncomfortable to use for the user as it causes stress on the knees, the toes and makes the experience completely tiresome, difficult to balance.
- Multi Directional- Lack of education and proper toilet etiquettes, the users often do not know where and how to squat on a toilet, thus increasing the efforts of cleaning and increasing water for flushing.
SquatEase won the Swachh-o-vation and awarded the Swachh Bharat Puraskaar 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary General on Swachh Diwas 2018.