Global research indicates that the world’s reserve of phosphorous is being mined to dangerously low levels. Phosphorous is a vital element which assists in converting the sun’s energy and other chemicals, such as nitrogen, into usable food for plant growth. We must therefore find ways to sustain this mineral. Jonathan Jackson speaks with Dena Fam and Kumi Abeysuriya about urine diversion.

Urine contains a significant amount of phosphorous, but it is flushed down waste systems daily. So how can we divert and capture urine and re-use it in a more sustainable way?

There are a number of urine-diversion research projects underway around the world. They may be in various stages of development, yet these projects are all focused on using technology and design to capture and re-use this vital resource.

In Australia, the Institute for Sustainable Futures is conducting trials in two different community situations to better understand the practical – as well as social issues – involved in separating and collecting urine and re-purposing it.
Both projects are directed by Professor Cynthia Mitchell, with senior research consultants Dena Fam and Kumi Abeysuriya, and phosphorus specialist Dana Cordell on the ISF team.

The trial at the University of Technology Sydney involves a broad team of academic, industry and government collaborators, to study the multiple dimensions of urine re-use (toilet technology, user receptiveness, communication, plumbing, maintenance, regulations etc.).

The related trial by Melbourne’s Yarra Valley Water has seen the implementation of urine diversion toilets in the Kinglake West community. You may remember Kinglake was devastated by fire in 2009 and is still in rebuilding phase.

Approximately twenty-five households in the area took advantage of the incentives offered by Yarra Valley Water to install more sustainable sewerage services to replace old septic tank systems. The new integrated system of urine diversion toilets, grey water recycling and STEP/STEG septic systems manage sewage by treating wastewater locally. Urine collected from urine diversion toilets (UDTs) is being trialled at a local turf farm near Kinglake as a more sustainable alternative to artificial fertilisers. ISF conducted the social research component of the trial to fill the gap in existing data on the experiences, practices and attitudes of householders using the UDT technology.

Wastewater considerations

As stated, solutions need to be found to curb the dissipating levels of phosphorous. Kumi says the research conducted by Dana Cordell on phosphorous scarcity and global population growth illustrates that we need to find alternative sources.

“Urine contributes the most nutrients in sewage,” Kumi says. “If you can take those nutrients out of the wastewater, then wastewater treatment also becomes much easier and cheaper to treat.”

Kumi says that recycling urine will also help dissipate pollution in our waterways by removing the algal blooms linked to nutrient discharge.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing though. Like any research in its formative stages, there are setbacks and is why small scale experiments are being conducted.

“We need to set up these experiments to find out what issues are going to arise,” Dena says. “We had no idea, for example, that the toilets were so problematic in public use settings, with regards to the first generation design. So, then we put in waterless urinals to collect urine as well. We’re trialling different ways to manage the collection, storage and transportation of that urine.”

Transportation is another consideration. What are the regulations about how the urine should be transported? We have regulations that deal in the transportation of waste, but not urine, so do amendments need to be made?

Helping with the regulatory and performance details is Sydney Water’s Les Barnard, who is overseeing the ‘performance based installation approvals’ process.

What happens is that ISF sets up the system, documents it and installs the engineering then Les will come in and suggest whether it is the best option or whether modifications need to be made.

“He needs to approve it as a performance based installation, because the technology is ahead of its time in that we don’t have regulations as yet on how to install UDTs,” Dena says.

It goes without saying that the vast array of people working on the project is vital to the project’s success.

“Everyone has some contribution, whether it goes forward or not.”
UTS trialled two models of UD toilets including the Wostman and Dubbletten toilets.

The Wostman toilets are quite well known in Europe, but we just found that they were flushing a lot of water with the urine,” Dena says. “You don’t want to be transporting large volumes of water and it wasn’t designed in a way that would always keep the faeces out of the urine section, so there was cross-contamination. The toilet was also lower than the standard Australian toilet. If you were really tall, you had problems with it. It was also awkward to clean and people aren’t used to that.”

So why are they successful in Sweden and not in Australia? Kumi puts it down to the cultural differences explaining that those who use them in Sweden are of a ‘green’ mentality and will find ways to make the technology work for them.

“In our trials, we have to understand that we are dealing with a public that may be environmentally aware, but, not for want of a better word, ‘green’.”

Dena says, “If you’re trying to mainstream this sort of technology, it demands people have different practices and habits, so you really need to be considering in what setting it’s appropriate to install.”

Commercial realities

Dena says that commercial realities mean it is unlikely this technology will ever be taken up by major manufacturers.

“It’s such a small market, there’s no justification for a big manufacturer to redesign the toilet and make it more culturally acceptable. A more appropriate direction would be to collect urine from an established technology like waterless urinals.”

Kumi, however, is optimistic that eventually the technology will be recognised.
“All technologies go through various designs and generations. One hundred years ago, the ‘regular’ toilet didn’t have an S-trap. We have to remember that these (UDTs) really are first generation toilets.”

To make it a commercial possibility, plumbers need to be convinced of the technology’s merits. Kumi believes that green plumber training programs now available across the country have opened up doors to greater acceptance.
“We think that on top of green plumbers, they should have ‘yellow’ plumbers who are specially trained in urine diversion technologies.”

While this is unlikely, it is worth considering. As we’ve seen with the green movement, technology moves pretty fast and creates strong market sensibilities.

Those plumbers who have capitalised on green plumbing are reaping the rewards. Whether this could happen with ‘yellow’ plumbing remains to be seen, but the possibilities could once again change the industry.

Before this may occur regulations need to be set.

“We would have to develop regulations and system design guidelines to make this happen,” Dena says. “That’s why we have people like Les Barnard and university researchers and industry partners on board. All these people have to have input into what the guidelines might be. We have talked about the fact that you need to have a steeper gradient for the plumbing. You have to have space installed in a new building for jet flushing. Discovering the optimal configuration is the first step and then you need to build regulations around that.”

Parallel goals

The trials at Kinglake West are being conducted in conjunction with Yarra Valley Water. Before the bushfires Yarra Valley Water already put in a proposal to the Victorian Water Trust to integrate a system that would include UDTs.

The proposal was put on hold as bushfires ravaged the land, but once it was discovered that many people had lost their homes, more people were interested in the project.

Urine diversion toilets were first trialled in Currumbin Queensland and then Kinglake West. It has given those involved in the research different contexts to compare experiences in different contextual settings, particularly as Currumbin is an eco village, compared to the ‘regular’ residential setting of Kinglake. UDTs were also set up in the public facilities of the university.

“Just having those three different trials means you get very different data about how successful they are,” Dena says. “This is important when you are trying to figure out what is working and what is not.”

Moving forward

The purpose of the project was to examine whether a urine diversion system has its place in Australian society and whether it is a long term viable option to not only provide water saving benefits, but to also provide nutrient solutions.

Dena and team drew their project to a conclusion at the end of 2011 but are looking for opportunities to explore further questions opened by the trial. They feel the research and studies are only just beginning: “We’ve only put in a couple of waterless urinals and started collecting from waterless urinals in the last 12 months.”

They were also involved in trialling urine in fertilising test crops in conjunction with the NSW Garden Industry Association and UWS. Three crops were trialled: Kangaroo Paw (an Australian native plant), lettuce and an ornamental. Dena says the initial results look positive and there are definite benefits when using urine in comparison to no fertiliser or a solution fertiliser.

“That’s the thing; we’ve opened all these doorways to different parts of the system and trialled different research projects and now we’re going to see if we can do something a little more in-depth with it.

“There are outcomes that have come out of all of those different strands of research and everyone would have different perspectives. That’s the reason we have this big cross-disciplinary team involved. We all have different perspectives on what is most important but in reality we need to find out about all of these issues at the same time if this is going to go forward. So, if you’re talking about the technology perspective, you might say that an important thing that we found out very quickly was that the UD toilet technology was really not ready for rollout.

“So we wouldn’t want to be mass producing these, or supporting them to be installed in large numbers yet. What we did find out was that waterless urinals are a much better option for immediate use and there are potentially ways to collect the urine more efficiently.” In fact, some of the project’s collaborators are exploring the feasibility of future-proofing commercial buildings by installing the pipework for urine collection during construction happening now.

Kumi believes a tipping point is being reached; momentum is gathering among the plumbing, construction, property development and Council sectors to trial a system that is successful in nutrient recovery. The benefits could be endless as it could be used to service everything from turf farms to parks and gardens.

Global phosphorous research is on the increase, now it is about educating the public, changing their perceptions and bringing about a cultural shift.

Contact
www.isf.uts.edu.au