[Terrapreta] Pee AKA human urine

Wed Oct 17 11:54:27 EDT 2007

TP Group,

My spouse and I have been applying most of our urine to Zone 1 (gardens  
about the house) for 23 years.  Not as a foliar feed, but to the root  
zone, diluted or not according to my best judgment at the time.  Not to  
root crops or stuff like lettuce.  Corn is a good choice!.  If there is  
nothing needing feeding at the moment or I'm just lazy or there's 2  
feet of snow on the ground it goes on a compost/mulch pile.  Often I  
make garden beds with bales of hay or leaves of bales of hay and just  
pour copious amounts of urine on them for a few weeks or months.   
Builds incredible soil where here was none.  Have transplanted tomatoes  
into still warm bales of hay in early spring.  They love it.  Obviously  
scattering charcoal on the ground (along with the rock minerals) before  
applying the hay is a strategy worth exploring.

Have been looking for a good unisex urinal solution all these years.  5  
gallon bucket has been what we have been using.  Guys, it is easy.   
Just pick the bucket up; don't try to hit it.  Females have the harder  
task of squatting over or sitting on it, though an old fashioned  
chamber pot/ commode is a good solution.  Bidet to storage tank that  
overflows to the grey water treatment tank is a solution I have been  
considering.  Would give us a bulk storage of diluted urine that could  
be tapped into.  My father peed into gallon milk jugs as his collection  
technique.

Doug

> Dear Edward
>
> I would GUESS that if the waste products concentrations were serious
> enough, that teh urine donor would soon be dead, and unable to
> contribute much further.
>
> Sewage from a Municipal Sewage system is much different that "home
> grown" urine and feces. For one thing, unused and out-dated medications
> are often flushed down teh toilet. For another, industrial wastes sent
> to Municipal sewers can be "endocrine disruptors." I would thus feel
> that "home collected" urine and feces would inherently have less of teh
> hazards to which you refer.
>
> However, there are other hazards. For example, e-coli contamination of
> food crops if humanure is not applied properly. As I understand it,  
> this
> concern is absent with urine.
>
> Your point about getting valid data is very valid. The fact that such
> concerns can be raised suggests that data is necessary to address these
> concerns.
>
> Our North American Culture has big hang-ups about bodily functions. I
> grow beans and apply urine as a nutritional supplement. Most people I
> talk to say "You are not going to eat the beans are you?" Yet, they see
> no problem using animal feces as fertilizer. With only urine and
> seaweed, I can grow Pole Beans 20' tall.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Kevin
>
>
> Edward Someus wrote:
>> Do you have info on data for specific targeted investigation of
>> _*endocrine disrupting chemicals, female hormones, and pharmaceuticals
>> CONCENTRATED in urine*_ to be used in soil?
>> Endocrine disrupting chemicals, female hormones, and pharmaceuticals
>> in urine is one of the most important problem of the municipal sewage
>> water treatment, and very difficult to handle it.
>> *_These substances are in very low level in the sewage stream_*,
>> difficult to trace, but despite the small amount they are very very
>> dangerous. So far these elements where not a problem, because they
>> where not traced and not detectable, but now the chemistry is more
>> advanced than years ago, and more advanced chemical analytical methods
>> are still under development.
>> If *_endocrine disrupting chemicals, female hormones, and
>> pharmaceuticals in urine_* is a huge problem of the municipal sewage
>> water treatment, why should not it be a big problem for soil
>> application at food crop production, not to talk about several other
>> problems with the urine use?
>>
>> Sincerely yours: Edward Someus (environmental engineer)
>> Terra Humana Clean Technology Engineering Ltd.
>> (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified organization for scientific
>> research, technical development and industrial performance engineering
>> design of agro-biotechnological and pyrolysis methods, apparatus and
>> applications)
>>
>> ADDRESS: H-1222 Budapest, Szechenyi 59, Hungary
>> TEL handy: +(36-20) 201 7557
>> TEL / FAX: +(36-1) 424 0224
>> TEL SKYPE phone via computer: Edward Someus
>> WEB: www.terrenum.net <http://www.terrenum.net/>
>> /-------Original Message-------/
>> /*From:*/ Adriana Downie <mailto:adriana at bestenergies.com.au>
>> /*Date:*/ 2007.10.17. 8:59:21
>> /*To:*/ 'Michael Bailes' <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com>;
>> 'Terrapreta' <mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
>> /*Subject:*/ Re: [Terrapreta] Pee AKA human urine
>>
>> http://www.cbc.ca/news/goinggreen/reusing-water.html
>>
>> Except: In Sweden, a test market in the council of Tanum is recycling
>> urine for use as fertilizer on farms. All new homes in the area are
>> required by law to have special toilets that separate urine and pipe
>> it into a holding tank that farmers access at regular intervals.
>>
>> Experts say this is better for the environment because the special
>> toilets use less water. And less energy is utilized at treatment
>> facilities.
>>
>> Most importantly, human urine has the most concentrated source of
>> phosphorus, which is a vital ingredient in agricultural fertilizer.
>> Tell that to the neighbour with the great lawn.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> *From:* Michael Bailes [mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, 17 October 2007 4:50 PM
>> *To:* Terrapreta
>> *Subject:* [Terrapreta] Pee AKA human urine
>>
>> **Received: **26 September 1994 **Accepted: **23 January 1995
>>
>> Abstract Stored human urine had pH values of 8.9 and was composed of
>> eight main ionic species (> 0.1 meq L^–1 ), the cations Na, K, NH _4 ,
>> Ca and the anions, Cl, SO_4 , PO_4 and HCO_3 . Nitrogen was mainly (>
>> 90%) present as ammoniacal N, with ammonium bicarbonate being the
>> dominant compound. Urea and urate decomposed during storage.
>>
>> Heavy metal concentrations in urine samples were low compared with
>> other organic fertilizers, but copper, mercury, nickel and zinc were
>> 10–500 times higher in urine than in precipitation and surface waters.
>> In a pot experiment with ^15 N labelled human urine, higher gaseous
>> losses and lower crop uptake (barley) of urine N than of labelled
>> ammonium nitrate were found.
>>
>> Phosphorus present in urine was utilized at a higher rate than soluble
>> phosphate, showing that urine P is at least as available to crops as
>> soluble P fertilizers.
>>
>> http://www.springerlink.com/content/km386u8967256354/and^32 P-tracer -
>> plant nutrients - pot experiment
>>
>>
>>
>> --  
>> Michael the Archangel
>>
>> "You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
>> Most people don't know that"
>> FROM
>> http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
>>
>>
>> 	
>> 	
>>
>
>
>
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>
Douglas Clayton
50 Bullard Rd
Jaffrey, NH  03452
work:  603-532-1120
home: 603-532-7321
fax: 603-532-4581