At Sanisphère, we are convinced that the waste produced by our bodies can be treated in ways other than drinking water, while allowing everyone to have access to a quality sanitary service. Modestly, on our small scale today, we are thus actors at the service of one of the major global environmental issues of this century, which will have to be solved sooner or later. And the sooner the better for our planet!

We offer an eco-responsible alternative to conventional public toilets with solutions that are now widely tested, easy to operate and pleasant to use. Our systems have the particularity of operating without water, electricity, networks and chemicals. Our products are modern, robust, and tend to democratize and decomplex the use of so-called “dry” toilets which still have a bad image today. Sanisphère also has the ambition to massively extend the scope of its technology in the years to come (individuals, buildings, rental …).

The company, founded in 1991, now has about 15 employees, more than 800 installations, 200 of which have been completed in the last 2 years, for a turnover that has grown steadily over the last 5 years with 2.3 million euros achieved in 2019.

Just as our body does it naturally, Sanisphere toilets separate our effluents. The great interest of this process is to allow a much better control of the management of each waste, and especially to revalorize them. The patented Sanisphère technology which carries out this separation is a robust device based on mechanical diversions. An inclined conveyor belt directs the urine by simple gravity into an evacuation circuit. The faeces and paper remaining on the belt are conveyed to a composting room via a lever operated by the user.

These solids, dissociated from urine, become suitable to be transformed into humus by the biological and mechanical action of different detritus feeders initially introduced, and by natural actions of oxidation and evaporation. It is interesting to note over several years that the volume of these materials has considerably reduced (about 20% per year) and has given rise to a rich and clean soil, which can be used to fertilize green spaces. This control gives the incredible possibility of absorbing extremely high frequentation. This is what we have been doing for rest areas for more than 10 years.

Urine is treated in different ways depending on the context: spreading, storage, purification stations… Today, several companies and scientists around the world are developing the different solutions of tomorrow to recycle it, by extracting some of its chemical components (such as nitrogen or phosphorus) that can be reused in different fields such as agronomy.

The Sanisphère toilet cubicles are sober, modern, sleek and adapted to the accessibility standards for people with disabilities. They are designed to stay clean, and to be cleaned with plenty of water.

Without the addition of sawdust, they have been designed for use similar to water toilets. A simple signage, based on pictograms, makes it possible to understand in an instant how it works. Our buildings are often located on sites that are isolated from any network; in this sense, we provide users in each cabin with an antibacterial gel dispenser to ensure hygiene of the seat and hands, and two paper dispensers to ensure a permanent supply.

Regardless of the type of toilet we use on a daily basis, there are two main nuisances that make them unpleasant to use: the sight of dirt and foul odors.

We have removed these thanks to two principles:

• The low-level lighting in the cabin that keeps the downspout and the conveyor belt in the shade by backlighting ;
• The permanent ventilation of the cabin is achieved by sucking air through the bowl.

Comfort is even improved compared to water toilets because there is no smell during use, or even during large flows of use: you don’t smell what the person who came before you has left!