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16 December 1998 |
Ref 98/290 |
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Each year Australians produce 5 to 10 billion litres of valuable urine - as much as 500 litres per person per year.
And we use ten times this amount of water to carry the urine to treatment plants and into rivers and oceans.
CSIRO environmental scientist Dr Rhys Leeming says Australian and Swedish researchers have developed a healthy and environmentally sound water-saving system which retrieves urine as a valuable resource.
"Urine is high in nitrogen and low in phosphorus, and has been applied as liquid fertiliser since man began farming," says Dr Leeming.
"The urine separating waste system will especially benefit landholders, primary producers and remote communities," says Dr Leeming. "It saves water, recycles nutrients, and minimises the risk of faecal contamination."
Dr Leeming says that the new system comes from a Swedish application of an Australian environmental research technique, which assesses the hygiene risks of recycling urine. Scientists from the Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control have been working with Dr Leeming to measure faecal cross-contamination in urine separating toilet systems developed for waste minimisation and re-use.
Dr Leeming explains that the urine is piped off to holding tanks, from which farmers later pump it into tankers for use on the farm. Faecal matter is collected and stored separately and composted in special bins. Composting proceeds far more rapidly without the urine and the resulting organic matter is used as a soil improver.
"Too much phosphorus can contribute to rapid algal growth which impacts on water quality and habitats, and can curtail production at aquaculture facilities," he says. "Groundwater still needs to be monitored periodically for excess salinity and nitrate content, just as it should be when recycling whole sewage effluents."
The joint Swedish-Australian findings are soon to be published in the international research journal 'Water Research'. The project was funded by CSIRO and a Swedish consortium, including the Swedish Farmers Foundation for Agricultural Research, the Swedish Council for Building Research, the Swedish Water and Wastewater Association Research Program, the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
"This research will have particular application in rural communities, as well as being an important effluent management option for new housing developments outside major cities or in the eco-villages of the future," says Dr Leeming. It may also have application in Australia's National Parks and Reserves as an alternative to existing systems of wastewater disposal in fragile environments.
Dr Leeming says he expects the next stage of the Swedish project will be the development of a range of systems, supporting single households and isolated locations such as National Parks, up to communities of 12 to 20 families.
Dr Leeming and Dr Peter Nichols, also of CSIRO Marine Research, have been conducting research into faecal biomarker technologies in Australia for nearly 10 years. A technique developed with Dr Nick Ashbolt at the University of New South Wales is used by numerous Australian wastewater industry managers to determine sources of faecal pollution of waterways.
The technique traces naturally occurring substances from the digestive system, and is capable of finding whether humans, farm or domestic animals or birds are the sources of contamination.
It can also be used to detect illegal connections to stormwater systems that put sewage into river catchments and estuaries.
More information, photographs, from:
Dr Rhys Leeming 03-62325271
Craig Macaulay 03-62325219
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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