In 1939, Rikard Lindström wanted his family to be able to swim in the bay by the house without having to worry about the sewage polluting the water.

Rikard Lindström constructed the first Clivus Multrum on his property in Sweden when he found the existing toilet system was not reliable, and Sweden gained a new invention entirely in harmony with nature.

Neighbours soon took an interest in Rikard's ideas and a small production process started. Kurt Atterberg, a patent engineer and one of Sweden’s most famous composers, persuaded Rikard to apply for a patent and one was filed in the 1960s under the name of Clivus, the Latin word for inclination.

Nowadays the product is called Clivus Multrum. The concept “Multrum” was coined by Sven E. Arrhenius, a professor at Stockholm Veterinary University. He was of the opinion that “Multrum”, a place of decay, should explain and complement the idea of Clivus.

Rikard Lindström died in 1993 but his name lives on. His brilliantly simple closed system preserves water and prevents toilet waste from polluting water sources. 

“Simple but brilliant”, Sörmlands News (June 1971)

How they work