32 I PSAI Association Insight, July 7, 2021
We just can't get enough of all the new technology! While
feces are slowly drying in Colorado, urine may help fertilize
crops in Australia. A team of engineers in Melbourne have
created an electro-bioreactor, which separates the nitrogen
and phosphorus from urine, and it may be the answer to
high-energy issues in food production. By reducing the
energy-intensive production of nitrogen fertilizer and
the non-sustainable mining of phosphorus rock, these
bioreactors will strip these valuable products straight from
the human waste we're all overly fond of wasting. Of course,
overcoming how humans value (or not) their own waste to
the point they allow it as a crop fertilizer is another hurdle
that will have to be cleared, but progress is always a journey.
Learn more.
It's a win-win when innovation provides clean public
restrooms and employment for women. As is the case for the
Mobile She Toilets, the Hyderabad-based company founded
by innovator Sushma Kalempudi. Her woman-only toilets
are placed atop electric auto rickshaws, allowing for ease
in transporting through crowds, and recharging anywhere.
Kalempudi plans to add baby changing stations and GPS
tracking devices to her units, which are 100% operated and
maintained by women. Learn more.
Engineers at Colorado State University have created a
waterless toilet. Prompted by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation's "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge," they believe
slow-drying poop is the answer. The CSU team invented
a "semi-gasifier combustor that incinerates feces while
minimizing emissions," but were stumped on how to remove
the heavy moisture quickly. So they decided to slow it down
and run a chain through it. The chain not only picks up the
waste and runs it slowly by a fan, but it also pre-pelletizes
the fecal matter, thereby allowing for easier transport.
Check out their design here.
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