American Standard has launched a campaign to increase awareness of the state of sanitation worldwide and encourage action that protects the health of all people through well-engineered plumbing solutions.
The lack of sanitation facilities causes 2,000 deaths per day, mainly among children. In regions of the world where water is scarce and sewer infrastructure doesn’t exist, open-pit latrines allow disease to spread through direct and indirect contact with human waste.
American Standard engineers have invented SaTo (pronounced SAH-toh from “Safe Toilet”), a cost-effective, hygienic latrine pan that uses a mechanical seal and water seal to reduce disease transmission by closing off pit latrines from the open air. The company will donate hundreds of thousands of these pans to Bangladesh in 2013, one for each of its Champion brand toilets sold in North America.
SaTo was developed based on the findings from a market assessment American Standard engineers conducted last year in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh, organized and led by International Development Enterprises. After eight months of development at the American Standard New Product Design Center, successful field testing on SaTo was completed in Bangladesh.
“The SaTo retail price is well within the price range that triggered purchase intent from field trial participants,” said Jim McHale, American Standard vice president of product development and who led the field studies, as well as the latrine design team. “The price point allows for profit-taking at every step of the supply chain, yielding not just safer sanitation, but also a sustainable business model to drive widespread adoption and help reduce poverty.”
For every Champion toilet sold in the U.S. and Canada in 2013, American Standard will donate one SaTo unit. The company will also make a donation for every 100 likes or shares on its new “Flush for Good” Facebook page.
