19 August 2024 Lincoln alum designs toilet to keep campers going on the go

New regulations involving camping vehicle toilets came into effect this month, leaving many worried their vehicles would need costly renovations to remain legal.

Now a Lincoln University PhD graduate has helped design a tiny toilet which could solve the problem and ensure campers can continue to go on the go.

Dr Mustafa Pasha studied system modelling under the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design. He now leads a business research and development sector at Myst Enterprise. His experience spans working in various multi-disciplinary design projects, from lab equipment to electric vehicle solar kits.

His latest project? A new toilet.

As of August 1, all self-contained vehicles need to have a fixed toilet. This posed a problem for many campers who used portable lavatories instead.

The problem was not as simple as buying a fixed toilet for their vehicle, Dr Pasha said.

There had to be about 1m between the head of the person using the toilet and the roof of the vehicle, which posed a significant problem for many campervans with lower roofs.

Some vehicles did not have a high enough roof to make a toilet fit, meaning the roof of the vehicle would need to be modified as well.

There was also the issue of drainage. Most fixed toilets were plumbed out the back and outside of the vehicle, which meant those installing new ones would need to make another modification to fit the plumbing.

That posed the question, how could you meet the legal requirements while minimising the need for modifications?

Faced with these challenges, Dr. Pasha led his team and helped design the solution.

By precising fitting all of the mechanics they were able to lower the height of their design to just 320mm. The wastewater was collected in a horizontal tank which could be removed by hand and emptied, eliminating the need for plumbing modifications.

The toilet, called the BlackMOA, could be installed on rails and mounted under a bed to slide out, which fit the requirements but still meant no extra space was taken up.

“Our main goal was to create a solution that minimises costs.

“Saving time and money for locals was our primary motivator.”

The product had already started to be released to the market, but they continued to work on the successive designs and even smarter solutions.

But the work doesn’t stop there for Dr. Pasha and his team. They were now tackling the issue of the thousands of portable toilets that have suddenly become obsolete under the new regulations.

“We hate the idea of all that plastic going to the landfill.”

The team were developing a way to adapt existing portable toilets to meet the new requirements, with the solution expected to be ready in the coming weeks.