- Forum
- categories
- Resource recovery
- Fertiliser, soil conditioner, production of crops
- Urine reuse or infiltration
- Questions around safety of using diluted urine in agriculture?
Questions around safety of using diluted urine in agriculture?
3218 views
 
	- Elisabeth
- 
								
				
				
					
		- Moderator
- Freelance consultant since 2012 (former roles: program manager at GIZ and SuSanA secretariat, lecturer, process engineer for wastewater treatment plants)Less
- Posts: 3372
- Karma: 54
- Likes received: 932
 
Re: Questions around safety of using diluted urine in agriculture?
				Hi Mohammad,
Regarding your questions about the safety of using diluted urine in agriculture, there are plenty of publications available that show how to do this reuse in a safe manner. You can filter the SuSanA library by "reuse type: urine" which brings up 289 publications:
www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resource...l_6%5B26%5D=26&test=
We also have this post with 5 key documents to help you narrow down the vast number of publications on offer:
forum.susana.org/175-urine-reuse-or-infi...euse-or-infiltration
In short, the risks arising from hormones and pharmaceutical residues in urine are much lower than the same risks for wastewater, as the urine is applied to the soil where soil microbes can break down complex molecules more easily than breaking them down in water (due to higher density of microbes).
A quick overview is also available on Wikipedia here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuse_of_human_excreta#Urine
Regards,
Elisabeth
							Regarding your questions about the safety of using diluted urine in agriculture, there are plenty of publications available that show how to do this reuse in a safe manner. You can filter the SuSanA library by "reuse type: urine" which brings up 289 publications:
www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resource...l_6%5B26%5D=26&test=
We also have this post with 5 key documents to help you narrow down the vast number of publications on offer:
forum.susana.org/175-urine-reuse-or-infi...euse-or-infiltration
In short, the risks arising from hormones and pharmaceutical residues in urine are much lower than the same risks for wastewater, as the urine is applied to the soil where soil microbes can break down complex molecules more easily than breaking them down in water (due to higher density of microbes).
A quick overview is also available on Wikipedia here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuse_of_human_excreta#Urine
Regards,
Elisabeth
					
			
			
			Dr. Elisabeth von Muench
Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
					Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
Please Log in to join the conversation.
You need to login to reply- fppirco
- 
								
				
				
			Topic Author- I am independent EH&S researcher in natural resources recovery ,water,wastewater,agro_food ...fields.Less
- Posts: 98
- Karma: 1
- Likes received: 22
 
				Hi,
For first time I heard about using diluted urine in agriculture in Arno's (SEI) presentation in BGR Hannover, Germany sanitation symposium in 2008.That time I asked him about biological and chemical safety concern which you pointed out about pathogens and pharmaceutical residuals. But I wish you determine urine pathogens are being killed in 6 month storage and what about some physiological metabolites such sex hormone in both males and females ? How about spores and cycst as resistant biological form may be appear as soil plant pest or chemical pollution?
In addition diluted urine as both water and liquid fertilizer I myself prefer wetland construction and vermifilter technology.
Best regards;
Mohammad
							For first time I heard about using diluted urine in agriculture in Arno's (SEI) presentation in BGR Hannover, Germany sanitation symposium in 2008.That time I asked him about biological and chemical safety concern which you pointed out about pathogens and pharmaceutical residuals. But I wish you determine urine pathogens are being killed in 6 month storage and what about some physiological metabolites such sex hormone in both males and females ? How about spores and cycst as resistant biological form may be appear as soil plant pest or chemical pollution?
In addition diluted urine as both water and liquid fertilizer I myself prefer wetland construction and vermifilter technology.
Best regards;
Mohammad
					
			
			
			Researcher and consultant  				
					Please Log in to join the conversation.
You need to login to reply
	Share this thread:
					 		
		 	
		 	
	
	
	- Forum
- categories
- Resource recovery
- Fertiliser, soil conditioner, production of crops
- Urine reuse or infiltration
- Questions around safety of using diluted urine in agriculture?
Recently active users. Who else has been active? 
				
			
			
		Time to create page: 0.117 seconds	
 
			 
			 
			 
			 
			 
			 
			