Joel is correct (as he so often is); I was conflating two separate issues: water conservation (which matters more now that climate changes here and everywhere have reduced groundwater recharge) and nutrient conservation.
However there are linkages. The current system aggravates both problems: it wastes lots of water while "disposing" of "waste" in ways that turn valuable nutrients into nuisance nutrients by putting them in the wrong place. Conversely, some of the alternatives discussed n this thread conserve both water and nutrients. Funny how many "win/win" solutions there are when you start thinking in terms of whole ecosystems . . . . Margaret On Mar 5, 2009, at 12:06 PM, Joel and Sarah Gagnon wrote: > Thanks to Tom for the article on peak phosphorus. The take-home > message > there was that we need to recycle phosphorus in order to conserve our > declining geologic sources. That means beneficial reuse of human and > animal > "wastes". For more on ecosanitation and urine diversion, see the > following: > > http://www.howtopedia.org/en/Category:Sanitation > > Joel > > At 05:55 PM 3/3/09 -0800, you wrote: > >> Crow and I just got back from a Rainbow Gathering where everyone is >> taught >> not to "go" near the water because we drink it. On the other end, >> I come >> back to my office where the auto-flush function causes the toilet >> to start >> flushing as soon as I walk in and not stop until after I leave the >> restroom entirely. >> >> For a good book on the subject, check out the "Humanure Handbook" by >> Joseph Jenkins. It is available free online and we have a copy I >> am happy >> to share. >> >> >> --- On Sun, 3/1/09, Joel and Sarah Gagnon >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> From: Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[email protected]> >>> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Fw: Yellow Is the New Green >>> To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" >> <[email protected]> >>> Date: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 7:10 PM >>> Indeed, it does. This is an apt form of source separation. >>> >>> Joel >>> >>> At 12:56 PM 3/1/09 -0500, you wrote: >>>> This article makes a nice sidebar to Tom Shelley's >>> TCLocal piece on >>>> waste treatment last month. >>>> >>>> Jon >>>> >>>> ================================================================== >>>> >>>> The New York Times >>>> Op-Ed Contributor >>>> Yellow Is the New Green >>>> By ROSE GEORGE >>>> >>>> Woolley, England >>>> >>>> IN the far reaches of Shaanxi Province in northern >>> China, in an >>>> apple-producing village named Ganquanfang, I recently >>> visited a >>>> house belonging to two cheery primary-school teachers, >>> Zhang Min >>>> Shu and his wife, Wu Zhaoxian. Their house wasn't >>> exceptional -- a >>>> spacious yard, several rooms -- except for the >>> bathroom. There, up >>>> a few steps on a tiled platform, sat a toilet unlike >>> any I'd >>>> seen. Its pan was divided in two: solid waste went in >>> the back, >>>> and the front compartment collected urine. The liquids >>> and solids >>>> can, after a decent period of storage and composting, >>> be applied >>>> to the fields as pathogen-free, expense-free >>> fertilizer. >>>> >>>> From being unsure of wanting a toilet near the house >>> in the first >>>> place -- which is why the bathroom is at the far end of >>> their >>>> courtyard -- the couple had become so delighted with it >>> that they >>>> regretted not putting it next to the kitchen after all. >>>> >>>> What does this have to do with you? Mr. Zhang and Ms. >>> Wu's weird >>>> toilet -- known as a "urine diversion," or >>> NoMix (after a Swedish >>>> brand), toilet -- may have things to teach us all. >>>> >>>> In the industrialized world, most of us (except those >>> who have >>>> septic tanks) rely on wastewater-treatment plants to >>> remove our >>>> excrement from the drinking-water supply, in great >>>> volumes. (Toilets can use up to 30 percent of a >>> household's water >>>> supply.) This paradigm is rarely questioned, and I >>> understand why: >>>> flush toilets, sewers and wastewater-treatment plants >>> do a fine >>>> job of separating us from our potentially toxic waste, >>> and >>>> eliminating cholera and other waterborne diseases. >>> Without them, >>>> cities wouldn't work. >>>> >>>> But the paradigm is flawed. For a start, cleaning >>> sewage guzzles >>>> energy. Sewage treatment in Britain uses a quarter of >>> the energy >>>> generated by the country's largest coal-fired power >>> station. >>>> >>>> Then there is the nutrient problem: Human excrement is >>> rich in >>>> nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which is why it has >>> been a >>>> good fertilizer for millenniums and until surprisingly >>>> recently. (A 19th-century "sewage farm" in >>> Pasadena, Calif., was >>>> renowned for its tasty walnuts.) But when sewage is >>> dumped in the >>>> seas in great quantity, these nutrients can unbalance >>> and >>>> sometimes suffocate life, contributing to dead zones >>> (405 >>>> worldwide and counting, according to a recent study). >>> Sewage, >>>> according to the United Nations Environment Program, is >>> the >>>> biggest marine pollutant there is. Wastewater-treatment >>> plants >>>> work to extract the nutrients before discharging sewage >>> into water >>>> courses, but they can't remove them all. >>>> >>>> And there's also the urine problem. Urine, like any >>> liquid, is a >>>> headache for wastewater managers, because most sewer >>> systems take >>>> water from street drains along with the toilet, shower >>> and kitchen >>>> kind. Population growth is already taxing sewers. >>> (London's great >>>> network was built in the late 19th century with 25 >>> percent extra >>>> capacity, but a system designed for three million >>> people must now >>>> serve more than twice as many.) When a rainstorm >>> suddenly sends >>>> millions of gallons of water into an already overloaded >>> system, >>>> the extra must be stored or -- if storage is lacking -- >>>> discharged, untreated, into the nearest river or >>> harbor. Each >>>> week, New York City sends about 800 Olympic-size >>> swimming pools' >>>> worth of sewage-polluted water into nearby waters >>> because there's >>>> nowhere else for it to go. >>>> >>>> This probably won't kill us, but it's not >>> ideal. Environmental >>>> scientists in California have calculated that sewage >>> discharged >>>> near 28 Southern California beaches has contributed to >>> up to 1.5 >>>> million excess gastrointestinal illnesses, costing as >>> much as $51 >>>> million in health care. We can do better. >>>> >>>> Urine might be one way forward. Before engineers scoff >>> into their >>>> breakfast, consider that since at least 135,000 >>> urine-diversion >>>> toilets are in use in Sweden and that a Swiss aquatic >>> institute >>>> did a six-year study of urine separation that found in >>> its >>>> favor. In Sweden, some of the collected urine -- which >>> contains 80 >>>> percent of the nutrients in excrement -- is given to >>> farmers, with >>>> little objection. "If they can use urine and >>> it's cheap, they'll >>>> use it," said Petter Jenssen, a professor at the >>> Agricultural >>>> University of Norway. >>>> >>>> The price of phosphorus fertilizers rose 50 percent in >>> the past >>>> year in some parts of the world, as phosphate reserves, >>> the >>>> largest of which are in Morocco and China, dwindle. >>> (The gloomiest >>>> predictions suggest they'll be gone in 100 years.) >>> Although half >>>> of sewage sludge in the United States is already turned >>> into cheap >>>> fertilizer known as "biosolids," urine >>> contains hardly any of the >>>> pathogens or heavy metals that critics of biosolids >>> claim remain >>>> in mixed sewage, despite treatment. >>>> >>>> The rest of Sweden's collected urine goes to >>> municipal wastewater >>>> plants, but in much smaller volume so it's easier >>> to deal >>>> with. Research by Jac Wilsenach, now a civil engineer >>> in South >>>> Africa, found that removing even half of the >>> nutrient-rich urine >>>> enables the bacteria in the aeration tanks to munch all >>> the >>>> nitrogen and phosphate matter in solid waste in a >>> single day >>>> rather than the usual 30. Urine diversion also makes >>> for richer >>>> sludge and produces more methane, which can be turned >>> into gas or >>>> electricity, Mr. Wilsenach said. In short, separating >>> urine turns >>>> a guzzler of energy into a net producer. >>>> >>>> Putting urine to use is not new. A friend's >>> grandmother remembers >>>> the man coming round for the buckets 60 years ago in >>> Yorkshire, >>>> which were then sold to the tanning industry. The flush >>> toilet >>>> ended that, and no one -- my friend's nan included >>> -- wants >>>> outside privies again. "Any innovation in the >>> toilet that >>>> increases owner responsibility is probably seen as >>> downwardly >>>> mobile," said Carol Steinfeld, of New Bedford, >>> Mass., who imports >>>> NoMix toilets into the United States. >>>> >>>> Then there's the sitting problem: in most >>> urine-diversion toilets, >>>> a man must empty his bladder sitting down. This >>> wouldn't be a >>>> problem in some countries -- Germany recently >>> introduced a >>>> toilet-seat alarm that admonishes standers to sit -- >>> but it has >>>> been in others. Professor Jenssen was flummoxed by one >>> participant >>>> at a training workshop in Cuba who said firmly, >>> "If a man sits, he >>>> is homosexual." >>>> >>>> For now, "ecological sanitation" -- or more >>> sustainable sewage >>>> disposal -- thrives mostly in fast-industrializing >>> countries like >>>> China and India, which have money to invest in >>> alternatives but >>>> few sewers. A subculture of composting toilets exists >>> in the >>>> United States, but only a few hundred urine-diversion >>> toilets have >>>> been imported, Ms. Steinfeld said. >>>> >>>> Necessity -- whether occasioned by fertilizer prices, >>> carbon >>>> footprints or crippling capital investments -- could >>> bring >>>> change. At a recent wastewater conference, I watched in >>>> astonishment as dour engineers rushed to question a >>> speaker who >>>> had been talking about stabilization ponds, which clean >>> sewage >>>> using water, flow control, bacteria and light. >>> Normally, such >>>> things would be cast into the box of hippie-ish >>> ecological >>>> sanitation. But to managers struggling with energy >>> quotas and >>>> budget limitations, more sustainable, less >>> energy-intensive >>>> sanitation may be starting to make sense. >>>> >>>> As Mr. Zhang told me with a smile: "For me, >>> whatever the toilet >>>> is, I use it. For example, here we eat wheat. When we >>> go to the >>>> south of China, we eat rice. Otherwise we starve." >>>> >>>> It's been more than 100 years since Teddy Roosevelt >>> wondered aloud >>>> whether "civilized people ought to know how to >>> dispose of the >>>> sewage in some other way than putting it into the >>> drinking water." >>>> The Zhang family toilet is not the perfect answer to >>> Roosevelt, as >>>> it still uses some water, though 80 percent less than a >>> regular >>>> flush toilet uses. But at least it's the result of >>> someone asking >>>> the right questions. >>>> >>>> == >>>> >>>> Rose George is the author of "The Big Necessity: >>> The Unmentionable >>>> World of Human Waste and Why It Matters." >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> For more information about sustainability in the >>> Tompkins County area, >>>> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >>>> >>>> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information >>> for: >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >>>> Questions about the list? ask >>> [email protected] >>>> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org >>> _______________________________________________ >>> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins >>> County area, please visit: >>> http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >>> >>> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >>> [email protected] >>> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >>> Questions about the list? ask >>> [email protected] >>> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County >> area, >> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> Questions about the list? ask [email protected] >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > Questions about the list? ask [email protected] > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
