The railways have decided to use vacuum to clean poop. The toilet technology used on-board aircraft and in some western countries which the Indian Railways has been toying with since January this year, has finally entered Mumbai's rail sheds, with vacuum toilets on trial at the Central Railway's Matunga workshop. With persistent complaints of stinking bio-toilets on trains, the railways has now turned to vacuum toilets, and they are being developed for the first time on Indian-style toilets.

Less water to be used
"The difference is that while the vacuum toilet will have a bio-digester to convert the waste into water as in the case of bio-toilets, vacuum toilets also have an additional feature of a suction pump that sucks out waste without need for much water to flush it. It helps contain smell and reduces the use of water. A bio-toilet uses 10-15 litres of water per flush, while the vacuum toilet consumes about half a litre, or 70% less water," Chief Workshop Manager, Matunga, Rishilal said. The cost of each vacuum toilet is approximately Rs 10 lakh per coach.