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.

Project Information

Propelair

Grant agreement ID: 778742

DOI

10.3030/778742

Project closed

EC signature date 12 September 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 31 March 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 1 271 786,50

EU contribution

€ 890 250,00

Coordinated by

PHOENIX PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - Propelair (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.)

Reporting period: 2020-04-01 to 2021-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Propelair project comprises the “refinement, miniaturisation and demonstration of an ultra-low flush toilet capable of saving 2.8bn litres of clean, potable water being unnecessarily wasted in Europe every day”. Phoenix Product Development Ltd is applying 20 years’ experience to a project that will develop an innovative toilet that will reduce such water wastage.

Toilets account for 90% of clean water use in non-residential buildings and 35% in domestic ones, with Europeans flushing away 102bn litres of clean drinking water every day.
The European Environment Agency reports that in Europe 70m people are currently living in water stressed conditions, and the UN has predicted that by 2025 people living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity will increase to 1.8bn people, while global water demand is projected to increase by 55% between 2015 and 2050.

Propelair’s solution addresses the problem of water wastage by decoupling flush performance from the volume of water used through a novel, patented “displaced air” technology. The Propelair project will refine, demonstrate and scale-up for market readiness an ultra-low water toilet with a flush volume of only 1.5 litres, reducing toilet water usage by 75% compared to a 6-litre standard dual flush toilet, or 84% compared to a 9-litre unit, and reducing total water process energy and carbon emissions by 70%. Installed in a commercial washroom, a single Propelair toilet will typically save 180,000 litres p.a. delivering an average saving of €344 per year with a typical return on investment in under 2 years.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

"During the project we have demonstrated that the Propelair's Ultra Low Flush Technology does not increase the risk of blocked drains following a large-scale trial at the University of Exeter.

We were also able to demonstate that our technology reduced water by up to 84%, reduced carbon emissions by up to 70%, improve hygiene by reducing aerosolised germs by up to 95%, and reduces maintainence calls by up to 40%.

We have developed and tested prototypes of a Next Generation Propelair Ultra Low Flush Toilet based on a new optimised air pump technology developed with Anglia Ruskin University. The work included refinement of the original Propelair design (which our customers are already benefiting from), the development of a new control module and the development sound reduction techniques.

We have also developed and assessed a number of concepts for a no touch auto open close toilet lid and expect to launch this is 2022.

To exploit and disseminate the benefits of Propelairs Ultra Low Flush Technology and the Horizon 2020 project results we have generated several case studies, videos and publications. We have also increased our sales partnerships in the UK, engaged with European sales partners, developed our sales partnership in South Africa, and gained a new sales partner in the Middle East.

We expect to launch the Next Generation Propelair Ultra Low Flush Toilet by 2023 based on the work undertaken in the Propelair Horizon 2020 project which will help us with our mission: to save the plant one flush at a time!"

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

"The Propelair Ultra Low Flush Toilet reduces water use by up to 84%, carbon emissions by up to 70% and aerolised germs by up to 95%

We aim to contribute significantly towards solving global water supply issues which are of increasing concern, as Europe alone flushes away 102bn litres of water every day. As such, there is an urgent need to find a solution to the wasting of essential water supplies, especially with an ever-increasing global population.

This project will demonstrate and bring to market the Propelair ultra-low flush toilet potentially saving 2.8bn litres in EU every day as well as reducing carbon emissions and improving hygiene.

It is envisaged that Propelair will become an internationally renowned SME, with our toilets becoming the market leader in high-performance, ultra-low water usage technology, generating cost savings of some €344 per annum per toilet through reduced water bills and paybacks of their investment of under 2 years for commercial customers.

Should we be able to establish a global market penetration of 0.5%, our sales targets would be 21 million toilets creating over 300 jobs within our supply chain network."

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