Human urine as a source of alternative natural fertilizer in agriculture: A flight of fancy or an achievable reality

Karak, Tanmoy; Bhattacharyya, Pradip

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.12.008

Cited by 191 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…4,5 Urine contains the major fraction of nutrients found in human excreta: 80-90% of the nitrogen, 55-67% of the phosphorus and 50-80% of the potassium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of viral and bacterial pathogen surrogates during urine nitrification

Bischel

Schertenleib

Fumasoli

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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a This paper assesses the inactivation performance and mechanisms in urine nitrification reactors using bacteria and bacteriophages as surrogates for human pathogens. Two parallel continuous-flow moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) were operated over a two-month period. One MBBR was used to conduct a continuous spike experiment with bacteriophage MS2. The second reactor provided the matrix for a series of batch experiments conducted to investigate the inactivation of Salmonella typhimurium, Enterococcus spp., MS2, Qβ, and ΦX174 during urine nitrification. The roles of aeration, biological activity, and solution composition in inactivation were evaluated. Whereas bacteriophages ΦX174 and MS2 remained infective following urine nitrification, partial inactivation of bacteriophage Qβ was observed. Qβ inactivation was attributed primarily to aeration with a potential additive effect of biological processes, i.e., processes that are attributable to the presence of other microorganisms such as sorption to biomass, predation or enzymatic activity. Tailing of Qβ inactivation to a plateau indicated a protective effect of the solution components in aerated nitrification reactors. In contrast to the bacteriophages, S. typhimurium and Enterococcus spp. were mainly affected by biological processes: they were inactivated in biologically active nitrification reactors while remaining stable in chemically equivalent filtered controls. The tested bacteria could, for example, be out-competed by other microbial communities or sorbed to biomass in the reactor. Microbial communities did not adapt to inactivate bacteriophage MS2 (e.g., via increased prevalence of virus predators) in the experimental time-scale evaluated, with no observed inactivation of MS2 during continuous input for 51 days in the flow-through MBBR. The compilation of these results suggests that biological nitrification as a fertilizer production process remains insufficient as a stand-alone technology for the sanitization of source-separated urine.

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“…4,5 Urine contains the major fraction of nutrients found in human excreta: 80-90% of the nitrogen, 55-67% of the phosphorus and 50-80% of the potassium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of viral and bacterial pathogen surrogates during urine nitrification

Bischel

Schertenleib

Fumasoli

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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“…The slopes represent the volumetric mass transfer coefficients, K L ·a. They are given for the three investigated temperatures in Table 1 together with the pK a values for the + 4 NH /NH 3 equilibria calculated by Equations (1) and (2). In the investigated simple mass transfer apparatus, the volumetric mass transfer coefficients were rather low even at the tested elevated temperatures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Pretreating Stored Human Urine for Solar Evaporation by Low-Technology Ammonia Stripping

Gulyas¹,

Zhang²,

Otterpohl³

2014

JEP

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In order to avoid the loss of ammonia during solar drying of stored urine, low-tech stripping is suggested as a pretreatment process for ammonia recovery. The mass transfer of ammonia from stored urine with an initial pH of about 9 was tested in a simple closed vessel operated at 72˚C, 74˚C and 85˚C. The specific urine/gas interface was 16.97 m −1 . For ammonia absorption, a beaker with sulfuric acid was positioned in the gas phase of the container. After keeping the stored urine for 73 h at 85˚C, the concentration of free ammonia (NH3) was reduced by more than 99%, and the pH of the stored urine decreased to 6.4 due to ammonia volatilization. Total ammonia ( 3 NH + + 4 NH ) concentration was reduced by only 83% in the same period. At lower temperatures, the process was slower. Required treatment time can be reduced when specific gas/liquid interface is increased. Because it is known that water can be heated in solar boxes to temperatures above 90˚C, this simple stripping apparatus is feasible to be operated with solar energy in remote areas with suitable climatic conditions where no electric power is available. As the area demand for solar "low-tech stripping" is less than 1 m 2 per capita, this process can be looked at as a suitable pretreatment of stored urine prior to solar evaporation.

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“…Karaka and Bhattacharyyab (2011) as nitrogen fertilizer due to its high nitrogen content, which is the limiting nutrient for plant growth (Srivastava et al, 2012). Furthermore, Heinonen-Tanski et al (2007) report that urine can replace commercial fertilizer, and can be used in soils with low nitrogen availability.…”

Section: Foliar Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Producción de plántulas de chile jalapeño fertilizadas con orina

Preciado-Rangel

Fortis-Hernández

García‐Hernández

et al. 2017

Remexca

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La orina es considerada un fertilizante orgánico con un gran potencial en sistemas sustentables de producción agrícola, debido a su contenido de nutrientes; sin embargo, no puede ser aplicada directamente debido a su alto contenido salino, por lo cual es necesario un acondicionamiento previo para disminuir el pH y la salinidad. En el presente estudio se evaluó el efecto de diluciones de orina en agua (1, 2, 3 y 4 dS m-1), más dos tratamientos adicionales (solución Steiner y agua destilada) sobre el crecimiento y la absorción nutrimental de plántulas de chile Jalapeño. Las plántulas fertilizadas con orina diluida tuvieron mayor contenido de nitrógeno (35.4-59.9%) que las fertilizadas con solución Steiner. Además, no se observaron diferencias significativas en los parámetros de crecimiento entre plántulas fertilizadas con solución nutritiva Steiner, o con orina diluida a 1 dS m-1. Se concluyo que la orina diluida puede ser usada como una fuente nutricional alterna para la producción de plántulas de chile jalapeño.

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Human urine as a source of alternative natural fertilizer in agriculture: A flight of fancy or an achievable reality

Cited by 191 publications

References 66 publications

Inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of viral and bacterial pathogen surrogates during urine nitrification

Inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of viral and bacterial pathogen surrogates during urine nitrification

Pretreating Stored Human Urine for Solar Evaporation by Low-Technology Ammonia Stripping

Producción de plántulas de chile jalapeño fertilizadas con orina

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