A team from the School of Engineering has devised a smart system consisting of a range of sensors to monitor bathroom usage and inventory in real-time. These include footfall, soap and toilet paper volumes, rubbish bin capacity, and even alerts for assistance in disabled facilities. 

Superintendents can assess the state of the toilet through a dashboard or be alerted into action by automatic triggers.

While such smart toilets boosting cleaning efficiency are hardly new, the lure for the solution is the ease of setup: it only requires that various inexpensive sensors are affixed at strategic locations. Using Low Power Wireless Sensor Connectivity Technology, they do not require any drilling or rewiring to get running.

Moreover, the sensors are connected to a central system that they devised over a long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) – as opposed to the much-often used WiFi network.

The project is done in collaboration with facility management company Convergent Smart Technologies Pte Ltd (CST). One component developed with the company is the ammonia detector, which has been awarded the Singapore Green Building Product Certificate and rated two ticks by the Singapore Green Building Council. 

This boosts its credibility as a green product; its usage can accord buildings additional scorings under the BCA Green Mark Scheme. It also has huge potential to enter global markets where environmental standards are becoming more stringent.