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Urine Sequestration - Liquid Fertilizerby Lawson SchallerUrine sequestration - this is an idea some may consider to be pushing the envelope. Having written a recent column on composting toilets brought no complaints that I'm aware of. Perhaps I should start this month's column out with the disclaimer . . . "this does not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors, publishers etc., etc." Then again, maybe it does? (Note from the editor: It does.) It would seem to be a safe assumption that baking our own bread or biking to work is a more savory "green"' topic than urine sequestration. But, then again, one could argue that urine sequestration is more green (at least in color) than baking or biking. I am hearing more and more folks talking about the value of urine as a fertilizer. Evidently, there is good stuff in that urine - nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Last year, while at a WateReuse Conference in San Francisco, I saw a woman from Berkely present information on the process of urine sequestration. Other countries are collecting urine and using it as fertilizer. Apparently the Europeans are leading the way. One test involving tomatoes fertilized with urine in Finland shows four times the yield over "traditional" fertilizers. Traditional, meaning somewhat contemporary I suppose. There are claims that urine fertilization was in practice centuries ago. Of course that in itself does not make it valid today - but sure sounds as if it has merit. Afterall, some of our best, brightest, and most courageous are pursuing drinking their filtered urine. No, not those drunken fools from your university days but our comrades at NASA. They live in the space station with ultrafiltration to reuse and recycle their sweat , urine, and condensation. The last reports I saw, claim they were still working out the bugs on urine filtration. The point is that using urine for fertilizer pales to filtering it to potable standards. Of course, in our traditonal sewer systems today urine and fecal matter is mixed with other household waste and treated to various standards and discharged into surface and ground waters (streams, rivers) or into the ocean. The urine fertilizer idea requires that the urine be separated or sequestered (no fecal matter). "No mix" toilets that do this are available. An online article states that the results from the urine fertilized tomatoes were reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. According to the article, not only did the urine fertilized fruit produce better yield, but also contained higher protein and more beta carotene than traditionally fertilized tomatoes. And, they claim comparable flavor. It is not clear to me what the exact definition of "traditional fertilizer" is. There are valid concerns about prozac, endocrine disrupters, micro-constituents etc. that might pass thru the urine to the plants. However, I have to imagine, sadly, that many aquifers and surface waters have already been loaded with the pharmacuetical industries best. It is fairly safe to say that the traditional/contemporary fertilizers have also leached into our water supplies. Don't get me wrong, I can marvel at the vast and massive production that has taken place in the agricultural food industry in the last half century or so. But there is a down side. Many would argue that industrialized agricultural food production has taken its toll on Mother Nature. The idea of more testing and case study application of urine based fertilizers may be a good one. So far it appears that we can safely and effictively use these types of fertilizers. If we can save tons of money and energy, and carbon footprint by avoiding the treatment and disposal of our urine, then why not? As it is now, our urine is treated and dumped into our water supplies. Instead, let's consider utilizing the embodied energy and beneficial nutrients of the urine as fertilizer. According to reports, traditional fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium require a lot of energy to mine, produce, or manufacture. Reuse makes a lot of sense. Great Horned Owl image on banner by Cleve Nash |
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