Dubai: In this post-pandemic world where economic recovery, sustainability, and hygiene have taken paramount importance, ‘smart toilets’ are becoming a sector that is flush with opportunities.
On the opening day of the Big5 show on Monday, Toto Sanitary Ware put on display an award-winning smart toilet worth a whopping Dh100,000. A smaller version of the WC was made available for Dh34,000.
Who's buying these? The demand for these smart toilets in the luxury real estate and hotel sectors is high; product distributors told Gulf News. The company said they have been distributing Toto’s products for many years now.
Toto’s smart toilet was among the top highlights at Big5’s inaugural ‘Everything Architecture’ section – a brand new space in the exhibition that displays innovative products and services transforming the architecture and design sector.
The toilet, designed and manufactured by the Japanese company Toto Ltd., is not new. Semi-automated toilets have been around for a long time.
“The product has been around for nearly 20 years. However, the latest iteration of the fully automated toilet is the one that is worth Dh100,000,” said Jackson Matar, showroom manager at Al Futtaim Engineering, the local distributor of the product. “These products are fully automated, and only Toto manufacturers such kind WCs,” he explained.
What’s so special about these WCs?
The product has many features, said Matar. “Some of them are automatic, and some are remote-controlled features. The auto features include - opening and closing the seat covers. It has a built-in sensor that works on microwave technology, so whenever you get up, it will flush on auto-mode,” he explained.
The intelligent toilet has an auto-cleaning function, which functions every eight hours. “It uses an e-water plus technology that uses ‘electronic’ water to clean all the germs and bacteria inside the bowl,” Matar added. Moreover, the toilet has a built-in shower spray and a built-in dryer. “Using the remote control, you can control the seat and cover temperature, and pressure and temperature of the water,” he said.
The tank is concealed and uses only three to 3.8 litres of water per flush. Regular toilets use 11 litres per flush. Moreover, the ceramic bowl is handmade, and the seat and cover are made of the highest quality plastics.
So, who would be interested in a smart toilet? Matar insists that the toilet is popular among large villa owners and seven-star hotels. “The thing is, our participation at this event can connect us to interior designers. We are also offering a 45 per cent discount to visitors interested in the product at the exhibition,” he stated.
The global smart bathrooms market size was estimated at $1,546.7 million in 2021 and is projected to reach $2,574.08 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.5 per cent during the forecast period, according to the Extrapolate, a market research and content services firm.
