Know which pit is nearly full — before it fails.

Why this matters

The 8-step causal cycle

Three classes of pit risk

Decision support only. Responsibility stays with the humans and authorities who approve action.

How it works: the Scenario Theatre

Pipeline: ingest → score → explain → pattern → verify → visualise → human decide.

Comparison Pilot test data

Run this scenario in the Open Pilot

AI Helpers and Cloud Helpers

Each role is matched to a model or service named as published by its provider. OpenAI names were read from its models page in November 2026; re-check them and the AWS and NVIDIA names before launch. Models are used where they fit and none is a partner or endorser.

This solution requires current AI models to operate; the models listed (or their current equivalents) are essential to the production system.

3D model: the pit helper system

Real-time, physically based render: concrete, soil, steel, glass and polymer materials lit by a sky environment, with live shadows and reflections. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom.

Click a part in the scene to learn what it does.

How this model works. The pit sits under a concrete slab with a vent pipe. A solar-powered sensor on the lid measures how full the pit is. The sensor sends the reading to a phone or tablet over the mobile network. As the slider moves up the pit fills, the light on the sensor changes colour and a service truck drives closer. In Assembly view the parts separate so you can see each one. Product close-up flies the camera to the TUS LABS level sensor, and Cutaway slices the ground open so you can see the level inside the pit. A person always decides before anyone is sent out.

Impact

Impact assessment

• Pits studied for the Water Research Commission typically filled at 200 to 500 litres a year, regardless of the number of users (WRC, 2012).
• As of a 2023 report, 2,333 Limpopo schools still had only pit toilets, and accurate data was lacking (Bhekisa, 2023).
• In 2022, over 1.5 billion people still lacked basic sanitation worldwide (WHO, 2024).

No pilot result is claimed yet. The pilot will measure time from first anomaly to approved action, share of alerts confirmed by a person, and work orders verified closed by a new reading.

Evidence

Pit toilets are still in daily use across South Africa, especially in rural villages, informal settlements and schools. A pit does not announce that it is nearly full. Research for the Water Research Commission found pits typically fill at about 200 to 500 litres a year, but few municipalities monitor filling, and products sold to slow filling did not work. When a pit is full, overflows or its structure fails, the result ranges from disease and indignity to the deaths of young children, as the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Human Rights Commission have recorded. Residents report overflowing pits, but reports do not always become scheduled work. The ten sources below were each opened and read; the summaries are in our own words. They show the need. The pilot will measure how well the product meets it.

Why this solution is needed

10 problems people have told us about

Coverage

Twenty areas across South Africa, with live weather fetched from Open-Meteo at each location. Status labels are company designations. Source: Open-Meteo, refreshed on load

About

Solution54 Sanitation Pit by TUS LABS

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Draft text for review by a South African attorney before launch. English legal text governs translations.