Yellow Water - Nutrient RecoveryPractical Use Study

By: Roberto Carlos Cruz AndinoRISE Program

Introduction

Urine

Each individual produces 1- 1.5 L of urine per day in 4-5 times and an adult excretes on an average 500 L of urine in a year. One liter of urine contains 11 g Nitrogen (N), 0.8 g Phosphorous (P) and 2 g Potassium (K), developing an NPK ratio of about 11:1:2 (Wolgast (1993)). If 500 L of urine is produced by each person in a year, it amounts to an equivalent of 5.5 kg of Nitrogen, 0.4 kg of Phosphorous, and 1 kg of Potassium.

However, the composition of human urine varies from person to person and from region to region depending on his or her feeding habits, the amount of drinking water consumed, physical activities, body size, and environmental factors

Urine/Water Federal plumbing standards now specify that new toilets can only use up to 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF), and there are high efficiency toilets that use up to 1.28 GPF. A person could use up to 8 gallons of water to dispose of his/her urine in a day.

It implies that a lot of water could be used to dispose of the urine per person.

- For a year 132 gallons of urine / 2920 gallons of Tap Water ( Ratio 1/22)

UrineThe urine of a healthy person is sterile, and although bacteria may be picked up in urinary tracts they do not pose a significant health risk from a healthy person.

Urine normally lacks hazardous chemical compounds or heavy metals. Its strong odor of human urine is due to the body's breakdown of asparagusic acid or high amount of NH4+ present.

If it is not hazardous, why not reuse it?

Agricultural Benefits of Urine

There are several reasons why urine works so well as a fertilizer.

Urine contains few, if any pathogens but majority of the plant fertilizing nutrients. This high nutrient content-low pathogen combination implies it can be used to increase the yield of crops.

The nitrogen found in abundance in urine is good for plant growth because it helps to build protoplasm, protein and other components of plant growth. It certainly promotes leafy growth.

Agricultural Benefits of Urine

Phosphorus is important in the root formation and Potassium is also essential for promoting good fruit (and flower) development.

Studies conducted in Sweden show that an adult's urine contains enough nutrients to fertilize 50-100% of the crops needed to feed one adult during a year.

Urea in Urine

Human urine consists primarily of water, with organic solutes including urea, creatinine, uric acid, and trace amounts of enzymes, carbohydrates, hormones, fatty acids, pigments, and mucins, and inorganic ions such as sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), ammonium (NH4+), sulfates (SO42-), and phosphates (e.g., PO43-).

UrineComponen

tAmount

Water 95%Urea 9.3 g/l

Chloride 1.87 g/lSodium 1.17 g/l

Potassium 0.750 g/lCreatinine 0.670 g/l

UreaUrea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO(NH2)2. The molecule has two —NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl (C=O) functional group.

It is a colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water and practically non-toxic (LD50 is 15 g/kg for rat). Dissolved in water, it is neither acidic nor alkaline.

Urea is an important raw material for the chemical industry.

UreaIt is a natural product of nitrogen and protein metabolism and predominantly found in the urine and animal waste. This is the first organic compound artificially synthesized from inorganic starting materials.

• Wöhler, Friedrich accidentally synthesized urea in 1828.Urea or urea-containing mixtures are used as fertilizers in agriculture

Urea is used as a chemical intermediate, stabilizer in explosives, medicine, and viscosity modifier, and in plastics, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, dentifrices, flame-proofing agents, and preparation of biuret.

It is commonly used in studies of DNA because it causes uncoiling of DNA molecules.

Urea is released into the environment through countless number of routes, and it can exist in the air in both vapor and particulate phases in the ambient atmosphere. In the aquatic environment, biodegradation of urea is common, releasing carbon dioxide and ammonia.

Urine reuse

Can urine be used “as is” like fertilizer for lawn without risk to the health and the environmental?

Urine “as is”

Because human urine is naturally rich in nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorus (P), the three components of most synthetic fertilizers (NPK) is the main objective of this project shows that the urine “as is” can be used to fertilizer the lawn of our gardens without risk to the health and the environmental.

Methodology

MaterialsPlastic Gloves 1.5 L Plastic Container with LidPermanent Marker 50 ml Graduated Cylinder Plastic FunnelPH meterTap WaterHuman UrineLaboratory Notebook

Material

Layout for specific areas

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Experiment Area

Control Area

Procedure1) Use a permanent marker to add 50ml mark in the 1.5 L Plastic Container.

a)Measure 50ml of water with the Graduated cylinder add to plastic container and label the volume on the container, repeat as needed.

b)Remove the water and let dry the container.2)Daily collect the urine of one person using the plastic glove. the plastic funnel and the container.3)Record the total volumen and its pH. Make observation about color.

a) It can add more person, use the needed material according to number of person.

4)If is possible performed urine analysis for bacterias get a sample and identify it.

Procedure5)Irrigate evenly the lawn of the Experimental Area 1 during the night (to reduce nitrogen evaporation) the collected urine. Area to be irrigate must be 4 square feet by day. Refer to layout.6)Take observation of the Experimental Area and Control Area.7)Repeat the step 2 to 6 for Experimental Area 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.8)Repeat the step 2 to 7 again. 9)If it is observed that the lawn deteriorates then set a new area of experimentation, dilutes the urine and start again.

Source• Urea, Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Third Edition), 2014, Pages

885-888, M.C. Korrapati, H.M. Mehendale• Chapter 59 - The Application of Foliar Urea on the

Concentration of Amines in Wine, Processing and Impact on Active Components in Food, 2015, Pages 493-500, Carmen Ancín-Azpilicueta, Rodrigo Nieto-Rojo, Julio Gómez-Cordón

• Nutrient recovery from human urine: Treatment options and reuse potential, Samantha Antonini , Sanem (Luxemburg) , October 2013

• Composition and concentrative properties of human urine, David F. Putnam, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D. C. July 1971