Brighton and Hove’s Green council is one of the first customers to trial a pioneering toilet technology tipped to revolutionise water waste.

Propelair toilets will be installed in public loos at the historic Royal Pavillion Gardens in Brighton.

The system uses just 1.5 litres per flush – compared to an average of nine litres used in traditional toilets.

It is thought the innovation could save as much as 1.6 million litres of water in Brighton alone.

Brighton and Hove City Council is trialling the technology in a bid to save water, cut costs and bring the wellused public loos up to date.

The Propelair system combines an air pump with the water cistern, and works when the lid is closed, using patented POWA displaced air technology.

The combination of air and water means it can be flushed more efficiently using a fraction of the water needed in a traditional toilet.

The system also improves hygiene by removing 99.9% of germs.

The Royal Pavilion Gardens toilets were chosen because they are wellused, fully attended and in need of replacing.

Councillor Ollie Sykes, deputy chairman of the environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “This council is recognised as the top local authority in the country for providing and maintaining our public toilet facilities, and we are constantly looking for new ways to update and improve this service, whilst keeping within our budget restrictions.

“These new toilets have the potential to save huge amounts of water, cutting costs, increasing sustainability and improving hygiene.”

Garry Moore, CEO of Propelair, said: “Brighton’s commitment to sustainability, money saving and hygiene is clear from their winning overall Loo of the Year in December and it’s a pleasure to be working with them and serving the people of Brighton and Hove.

“We hope to work more closely with Brighton and also look forward to helping other local authorities reduce their costs and carbon footprint while improving hygiene.”