I have been doing some research on the notion of "Decentralizing the Poo Structure," and came across a very appropriate article, "Re-engineering the toilet for sustainable wastewater management," which discusses the "NoMix Toilet" concept. Essentially (for those unable to RTFA), this has a separate flush mode for urine, enabling it to use a fraction of the normal water needed. Personally, this sounds better than putting oil into the black water stream or disposable filters. The NoMix, combined with a storage tank or with a specialized wastewater exit infrastructure allows for many possibilities: You can store and release into the regular wastewater stream during non-peak hours (e.g. NOT during a storm or early morning); you can reuse--since urine is so high in phosphorous and other useful nutrients it's perfect for agriculture, especially organic farms; etc. Reuse offers you the possibility of saving significantly more water than the "no-flush urinal." Redirecting from the normal stream is then not only useful, but important and necessary because the current WasteWater Treatment System is unable to handle all the nutrients it is currently receiving.
This is definitely the way to go, separating streams of wastewater. Granted it seems very difficult, but then you have to factor in the need to build up current systems further, and you start to realize what a great alternative this can be. To me, this is all notably suited to areas that lack good sanitation infrastructure, so that they can start off right the first time.
Supposedly, people can learn from others mistakes, or so I've been told! Well, that's my 5 paise. To see some of the other interesting links I dug up, or read the paper I'm working on, you can check my files for my Natural Resource Economics class. All from me, hasta luego, -Ajay
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I have been doing some research on the notion of "Decentralizing the Poo Structure," and came across a very appropriate article, " Re-engineering the toilet for sustainable wastewater management ," which discusses the "NoMix Toilet" concept. Essentially (for those unable to RTFA), this has a separate flush mode for urine, enabling it to use a fraction of the normal water needed. Personally, this sounds better than putting oil into the black water stream or disposable filters. The NoMix, combined with a storage tank or with a specialized wastewater exit infrastructure allows for many possibilities:
You can store and release into the regular wastewater stream during non-peak hours (e.g. NOT during a storm or early morning); you can reuse--since urine is so high in phosphorous and other useful nutrients it's perfect for agriculture, especially organic farms; etc. Reuse offers you the possibility of saving significantly more water than the "no-flush urinal." Redirecting from the normal stream is then not only useful, but important and necessary because the current WasteWater Treatment System is unable to handle all the nutrients it is currently receiving.
This is definitely the way to go, separating streams of wastewater. Granted it seems very difficult, but then you have to factor in the need to build up current systems further, and you start to realize what a great alternative this can be. To me, this is all notably suited to areas that lack good sanitation infrastructure, so that they can start off right the first time.
Supposedly, people can learn from others mistakes, or so I've been told! Well, that's my 5 paise. To see some of the other interesting links I dug up, or read the paper I'm working on, you can check my files for my Natural Resource Economics class.
All from me, hasta luego, -Ajay