VUNA - Nutrient Harvesting
- Summary
- By recovering nutrients from urine in small decentralized reactors, we developed a dry sanitation system, which is affordable, produces a valuable fertilizer, promotes entrepreneurship and reduces pollution of water resources.Stage of development : At usable levelProject Record: In Zurich at Eawag, all toilets at the main building Forum Chriesbach divert the urine into a separate pipe system. After storage, a pilot-scale treatment unit at the basement transforms the urine into a concentrated nutrient solution. Currently, about 75 L of urine are processed every day, producing on average 3 L liquid fertiliser and 72 L distilled water, which is recycled into the building's toilet flush water system. In Durban, the eThekwini municipality collects urine from household urine diverting dry toilets (UDDTs) and processes it at the Newlands-Mashu DEWATS Demonstration Plant test site. The site hosts several trials on nutrient recovery, fertiliser application, or decentralised wastewater treatment.(contact: Bastian Etter - Eawag - Ueberlandstrasse 113, 8600 Duebendorf - Switzerland - t: 0041 58 765 50 48)
- Technology Benefits
- Our body excretes the majority of nutrients in the urine (and not in the faeces). By collecting urine separately, we can recover valuable nutrients, e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, or sulphur. At the same time, we prevent pollution of surface waters with high nutrient loads.
- Coverage Areas
- Water
- Goods and Services
- Agriculture / Forestry > Soil improvement
Waste management > Reuse of waste materials
For more information, please click Here
