Thursday, August 4, 2016

Solar-powered machine that converts urine to drinking water, beer and fertilizers


Scientists from a Belgian university have built a machine that converts urine into drinking water and fertilizers which uses solar energy. Using the slogan #peeforscience, they deployed it at a 10-day music and theater festival in central Ghent, Belgium.

This machine uses a simple process without having to use high technology.
The process starts by collecting urine in big tank and is heated in a solar-powered boiler and then passed through special membrane  which separates out the water as well as nutrients like nitrogen and potassium, which can be used to make fertilizers. 

Last year the project  aim was to recover waste water from brewer itself so, that it can reused again and to extract nutrients that can be used as fertilizers.
About 25,000 litres of water was collected and the fertilizers that was produced from it provided nourishment to the barley crop. This year, the latest version is used to bring drinking water from urine which can then be used to brew beer.

The aim is to install larger versions of the machine in sports venues or airports but also to take it to a rural community in the developing world where fertilizers and reliable drinking water are short in supply.



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