The waterless toilet that turns your poo into power

UK researchers have created a self-sustaining nano-membrane toilet that could provide a safe alternative to open defecation and public lavatories

Human excrement is rife with pathogens, "odorant volatiles" (the chemicals that make it smell) and parasites, but it has something going for it: it's about 75% water. What's more, water is the smallest of all its component molecules.

It's these qualities of our faecal matter that got researchers at Cranfield Water Science Institute thinking about how to make a new kind of toilet that can provide safe sanitation to the 2.5 billion people around the world who do not currently have it.