Ladies, two 19-year-old students from IIT Delhi have come up with a device for women to stand and pee!
While this may not be a new thing (products like ‘Pee Safe’ and ‘Pee Buddy’ have been around for a while), the new device, that is about to launch soon, is being marketed as the ‘cheapest product’ in this domain for women.
The Story Behind It...
Harry Sehrawat and Archit Agarwal, the brains behind this biodegradable device, were on a trekking trip in the Himalayas-a few months ago- when one of their friends contracted an UTI (Urinary Tract Infection).
Since women sit and pee, the chances of them contracting UTI are far greater than anyone else. Thus, Archit and I decided to design a device that would let women stand and pee, without touching any potentially infected object in the process.Harry Sehrawat
According to a WHO report, 50% of Indian women suffer from UTI annually.
The duo collaborated with their Design Professor at IIT Delhi to create a sustainable product that lets women of all shapes and sizes use it.
The Initial Setback
When we created our first sample, we got our friends and family members to try it. What each of them complained of was that the device was leaking and that it didn’t give them full coverage.Harry Sehrawat
Both Sehrawat and Agarwal went back to the drawing board. After about four months of work, they were able to put together a full coverage, biodegradable, and inexpensive device that lets women stand and pee.
To check the sustainability and the safety of the product, they dispatched 20,000 samples to AIIMS Delhi where women used it and gave them feedback.
Eureka!
This time, the feedback that they received was positive. The duo then launched the device on 19 Novermber, World Toilet Day, and urged women to #StandUpForThemselves.
They are now looking to market this product widely!
The Price?
The way forward now is to put the device into the market. We are in touch with a few marketers and sanitation agencies to launch them at Rs 10 into the market. We also plan to stack them outside every public toilet so that women can pee whenever they want without thinking about the germs around them.Harry Sehrawat
Whether the device will sustain the market onslaught of several other such products, only time will tell. But the low cost of this product and the biodegradable nature sure gives this an interesting edge over the others.
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