Design Green Design Futuristic Folding Toilet Uses Less Space & Saves Up to 50% More Water (Video) By Kimberley Mok Writer McGill University Cornell University Kimberley Mok is a former architect who covered architecture and the arts for Treehugger since 2007. our editorial process Twitter Twitter Kimberley Mok Updated December 16, 2019 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Gareth Humphreys Share Twitter Pinterest Email Design Tiny Homes Architecture Interior Design Green Design Urban Design Toilets are some of the most water-consuming fixtures in the home, with older models using up to 7 gallons per flush. Various attempts to design a better toilet have ranged from the low-tech to more extreme and wacky ideas, but this water-saving, folding toilet from University of Huddersfield design students Gareth Humphreys and Elliott Whiteley has some interesting ideas for the bathroom of future. Claiming that it will reduce water use by 50 percent, the Iota folding toilet utilizes a moveable bowl that is lifted up after use, initiating a 2.5 liter (0.6 gallon) gush of water from the top, which helps to transfer wastewater into the now-connected outlet pipe. It's a pretty clever design that also occupies only a fraction of the space that a standard size toilet would take up, though some of the questions we would ask is whether it would be hard to clean; is it suitable for very large-sized people and whether the mechanics would hold up to years of daily use. But in any case, in terms of re-inventing the standard sit-down toilet, the Iota has some evocative ideas to save water and space in the bathroom. For more info, check out Designboom and Gareth Humphreys and Elliott Whiteley.