SEATTLE, Wash. -
From technology to toilets, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, are looking to clean up the world's sanitation problems one toilet at a time.
The Microsoft founder and philanthropist are hosting a "Reinvent the Toilet Fair" this week in Seattle.
Chris Elias, president of global development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, "This effort, the 'Reinvent the Toilet Challenge,' is quite critical because what most people don't realize is that 2.5 billion people – that is roughly 40 percent of the population on the planet – don't have access to safe sanitation."
The United Nations estimates disease caused by unsafe sanitation results in about half of the hospitalizations in the developing world, with about 1.5 million children dying each year from diarrheal disease.
In order to be in the running for the world's next toilet, all entrants must operate without running water, electricity or a septic system.
The foundation prefers entries capture energy or other resources, all of this while operating at a cost of five U.S. cents a day.
"The current design has a real problem," said Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and philanthropist. "It uses a lot of water, requires a very expensive system to bring in very clean water, then you make that water dirty.
Scientists from all over are taking the Gates up on this challenge.
Many of the prototypes recycle waste into other usable substances, such as animal feed, water for irrigation, or even just energy and water to run their own systems.
And the foundation already selected some projects Tuesday that will receive more funding to develop their ideas.
About $370 million in foundation money has been committed to reinventing the toilet. The foundation expects to field test its first prototypes within the next three years, FOX's Rick Leventhal reported.
