By Catherine Dominguez

It uses vacuum suction technology commonly used in aircraft lavatories.

Scientists from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University invented a breakthrough toilet system that might just change the way we look at human waste.

The system is called the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet which, according to its inventors, can generate electricity and fertilizer at the same time.

It works by separating the liquid from the solid, toilet-worthy materials with the aid of two compartments. This level of sophistication might just be fair enough for a project which is one-and-a-half year in the making and which got an $8 million grant from the National Research Foundation's Competitive Research Programme in Singapore, a funding scheme that invests on research with potential economic and societal benefits for the country.

In the special toilet's operation, liquid waste is sent to a processing facility that recovers nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, all of which are fertilizer components.

Meanwhile, solid waste is diverted to a bioreactor where it's digested to extract biogas which contains methane. Methane can be used in stoves for cooking as well as for generating electricity for power plants and fuel cells.

"Having the human waste separated at source and processed on-site would lower costs needed in recovering resources, as treating mixed waste is energy intensive and not cost-effective," said associate Professor Wang Jing-Yuan, director of the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre at Nanyang, and who leads research project.

But that's not all. Professor Wang said the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet is also worthy of praise for allowing its potential, energy-producing users to cut on the amount of water they use in flushing – that is, reduce water consumption by no less than 90 percent.

With the vacuum suction technology commonly used in aircraft lavatories, flushing liquids would only take 0.2 liters while flushing solids with just require 1 liter. Conventional toilet systems can require 4 to 6 liters of water per flush.

When used in a public restroom flushed 100 times a day, it will save approximately 160,000 liters of water in a year.

The next-generation toilet will be exhibited in the upcoming WasteMET Asia 2012, an event which presents the latest technologies and equipment in waste management and resource recovery solutions this July.

Along with this, the Nanyang Technological University will sign a memorandum of understanding with the research group Earth Engineering Center in Columbia University to further explore the system's potential.

The N.T.U. scientists themselves will carry out trials of the new system by installing the toilet prototypes in two new restrooms in the university.