Planning and communicating prototype tests for the Nano Membrane Toilet: A critical review and proposed visual tool [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

Abstract

Urban sanitation in growing cities of the Global South presents particular challenges, like the speed of their growth, the high population density, and, often, the lack of existing wastewater infrastructure. This led to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Reinvent The Toilet Challenge, a call to develop novel, non-sewered sanitation technologies, which sparked the development of various inventions, like the Nano Membrane Toilet. Complex technologies like this entail an extensive product development process, including various iterations of prototype tests. While there is an abundance of literature discussing how to build prototypes, and the optimal number of tests, there has been little focus on how to plan, communicate, and conduct tests, especially in a product development endeavour of this complexity. Multiple aspects of testing prototypes are reviewed. A visual test planning tool is proposed that encompasses the entire product development process and can be used to plan and communicate prototype tests for the Nano Membrane Toilet to ultimately achieve compliance with international standards.