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The refinement, miniaturisation and demonstration of an ultra low flush toilet capable of saving 2.8 billion litres of clean, potable water being unnecessarily wasted in Europe every day.

Objective

As reported by the European Environment Agency, 70million people in Europe are living in water stressed areas. In the Mediterranean region that figure rises to 53%. Water shortages affect almost every country in Europe and the problem is getting worse. Water consumption per person is increasing significantly; by 55% in the last 25 years.

European flushing toilets (WCs) waste valuable, potable water on an unprecedented scale. The 392m installed base of toilets across the EU currently ‘flush’ away 102bn litres of clean water every day. That is enough to drain Lake Geneva every 20 hours.

There is clearly a pressing need for a novel technology to reduce the volume of water used in flushing toilets.
Existing toilets including the latest ultra low, dual flush units, do not offer the level of water reduction required. Since water volume is integral to their operational mode, they are compromised and all require significant flush volumes to clean effectively.

This project will demonstrate and bring to market readiness a 1.5L ultralow flush toilet that will reduce average toilet water consumption by 75% and directly save 2.8bn litres of water being unnecessarily wasted per day.

Propelair also provides attractive economic benefits and rapid payback to customers. It reduces water bills on average by 60%, (typically €344 per unit p.a.) delivering a payback within just 1.2 years.

This Dedicated SME Instrument project is essential for us to refine, miniaturise, demonstrate and cost reduce our prototype to overcome current barriers to market, including purchase price and lack of a proven long term demonstration.

A successful project delivery will allow us to achieve cumulative sales of €80.7m and an EBITDA of €31.5m by 2023. At a modest 0.5% market penetration, we will our save customers 2.8bn litres of water day or 1.04bn m3 p.a. worth over €1.98bn.

This proposal builds upon a previous proposal 755830 which scored 13.66 and received a Seal of Excellence.

Keywords

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017

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Coordinator

PHOENIX PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIMITED
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 890 250,00
Address
UNIT 1 WEST POINT, 11 DURHAM ROAD
SS15 6PH Basildon
United Kingdom

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
East of England Essex Essex Thames Gateway
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 271 786,50
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