If you find yourself in the middle of nowhere with a gaping wound and no antiseptic solution, then human pee is the next best thing. The sterile disinfectant also doubles as a superb plant fertilizer, packed with the essential plant nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Unlike traditional fecal based fertilizer that depends on finite supplies, urine is completely sustainable. The Rich Earth Institute in Battleboro, Vermont wants to set a new standard in future fertilizer, exploring the possibility of tapping into this seemingly unlimited resource for large-scale industrial agriculture.
Image courtesy of Gizmodo
Contrary to popular belief, fecal fertilizer is not sustainable as only 50% of it comes from human “biosolids.” The rest is collected from natural gas pockets and bat-guano droppings in Morocco, or wherever guano supplies are left. And unlike pee, solid poop requires a significantly larger amount of treatment before it’s rendered safe for processing. Urine’s sterile nature guarantees an almost plug-n-play capability; as the urinator isn’t on certain meds (or drugs) the pee is ready for use right out the urethra. Microbes from bladder infections and salmonella are easily eliminated using solar pasteurization, but eliminating pharmaceutical residue is still being tested.
As of yet, REI has collected 3,000 gallons of urine from 170 volunteers in 2013 but hopes to double this amount by the end of 2014. Successfully testing the out-the-tube fertilizer has earned the organization a $10,000 SARE grant from the USDA and local residents are excited about expanding the tests on to three farms in this coming year. One farmer states “With the cost of fertilizer these days, I would certainly give it very serious consideration.”
Image via Modern Farmer
REI’s urine sustainability studies are nothing new. In the late 1990’s the Stockholm Water Company published a study detailing the results of funneling urine produced by four households to one grain farmer and the results were remarkable. It was found that a single can Swede expel enough nutrients to grow 50 to 100 percent of another person’s the food requirement and that pee is a functional replacement for “quick-acting mineral fertilizers.”
With such practical applications one undoubtedly questions what’s stalling progress? Well, for one, collecting pee in a bucket is extremely clunky and impossible on a large-scale. For 21st century folks, a more streamlined process must involve pee-diverting through an isolated pipeline. The problem is creating that isolated pipeline – this would involve reengineering the entire sewer infrastructure. A shorter term, albeit independent solution, is use to a urine-diverting toilet with its very own septic tank. But again, this is not a large-scale solution.
Image courtesy of World Health Organization
Progressive Sweden monkeyed around with urine diversion in the early 2000’s following SWC’s findings, but the movement never took off. The public procured only 10,000 urine diverting toilets and subsequent problems halted the movement. However, avoiding these early problems here in the US gives us the opportunity to better market this idea assuming our prudish nature or poop-fertilizer lobbyists don’t impede progress. “Amurrrrrrica pees standing up, you hear me boy?!”
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