Scientists invent new slippery toilet coating that saves water

Scientists have invented a new super slippery coating that helps usher excrement on its way without leaving a single trace.
The spray-on coating, that is allegedly slipperier than Teflon reduces adhesion of even the most tenacious faeces by up to 90%. The tests so far have shown that less water is needed to flush and it better cleans the toilet.

Prevent disease-causing germs

The researchers at the Penn State University where the coating was developed believe that the coasting could cut down household water consumption and prevent odours and disease-causing germs from building up in toilets. Tak-Sing Wong at Penn State University said that he was very surprised and pleased with the effectiveness of the coating. Wong got involved with soiled toilets in 2015 when he was contacted by researchers at Carfield University for help. They were designing a toilet for use in the developing world but found that odorous waste built up on the toilet bowl surface. At that time Wong's research group was well known for developing highly slippery coatings to repel sticky substances. 

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He and his team spent the next few years developing a coating they call a 'liquid entrenched smooth surface'. The coating that takes less than five minutes to apply has two parts. The first part is the base layer binds to the toilet bowl and has protruding 'nano hairs', each one a billion times thinner than a human hair. A coating of silicone oil is then added to the base layer.

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Save water to save lives

Through various tests, the researchers concluded that the coated surface took 90% less water to clean than using only water.
Further testing by the researchers showed that the coating was better than conventional toilet surfaces at preventing bacteria from faeces, urine or even rainwater from growing in the bowl. More than 141 billion litres of fresh water is used in Africa to flush toilets each day, this amount is nearly six times the daily water consumption of Africa. With millions of individuals across the globe facing severe shortages of water, Wong hopes that reducing the water used for flushing could help to alleviate the problem.