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- Membrane processing of urine into drinking water (University of Ghent, Belgium)
Membrane processing of urine into drinking water (University of Ghent, Belgium)
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- Elisabeth
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- Freelance consultant since 2012 (former roles: program manager at GIZ and SuSanA secretariat, lecturer, process engineer for wastewater treatment plants)
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Re: Membrane processing of urine into drinking water (University of Ghent, Belgium)
Thanks for the detailed description of your project, much appreciated!
I have a few questions:
You said:
Does the SATURN project (Solar-Assisted Treatment of Urine with Recovery of Nutrients) still have funding now or has the funding finished? You mentioned that funding started in 2013 but I didn't see further information on funding?I cannot disclose too much of the science behind the SATURN project, unfortunately. We do have some partnerships running under NDA.
NDA means non-disclosure agreement? May I ask who the partners are, or at least what kind of partners?
I am trying to understand which private businesses would have an interest in this and why?
Could you tell us a bit more about your activities in South Africa? We have many projects and people from South Africa on this forum so perhaps it's possible to make some connections between people this way.
Thanks a lot.
Kind regards,
Elisabeth
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A related discussion is here: forum.susana.org/173-urine-diversion-sys...nal-udt-module#22263
Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
Located in Ulm, Germany
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You need to login to reply- SebastiaanDerese
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Re: Membrane processing of urine into drinking water (University of Ghent, Belgium)
I'm just a new member of the SuSanA forum, and I've been around looking at what kind of work is being done. Very interesting indeed, and we are just a new player in this world. I'm sorry we didn't come here first, but the last few weeks have been very busy answering media requests and so on. About me: I am ir. Sebastiaan Derese, a PhD student in Bioscience engineering (environmental technology) at Ghent University since August 2013. Our team further consists of various MSc. students (who write their theses on our project) and my supervisor, prof. dr. ir. Arne R.D. Verliefde. Though this is the core, we have a lot of people involved for small tasks, and as such we have quite a bit of scientific and non-scientific input.
The project, which we like to call SATURN (Solar-Assisted Treatment of Urine with Recovery of Nutrients) is aimed at recovering the majority of fertilizer value in urine, but only through use of 'simple', energy-efficient and robust technology. The project was started in August 2013 when I received a personal grant to investigate a few techniques towards nutrient recovery from human urine. Since then, we've been (primarily) doing lab tests, which have been quite successful and led to a pilot trial at the Ghent Festival. There, we received a lot of media attention with the cross-over between the SATURN project and the Sewer To Brewer project, in which the goal is to use recovered water from wastewater into a beer (both as a statement - it can be done - as well as improving the trust in wastewater treatment and circular water cycles). Indeed: we were able to recover very high quality water directly from urine for beer production. More water is needed to start up a batch of 'urine beer', but that is out of the question here.
I cannot disclose too much of the science behind the SATURN project, unfortunately. We do have some partnerships running under NDA. What I can tell you is that we try and aim for selective nutrient recovery (N, P, K, S...) from urine (without inclusion of pathogens/pharmaceuticals) as well as high-quality water recovery with the only energy input being solar heat (so no PV panels). Due to the 'ease of operation' and modularity of the technique, it is possible to have both a 'high-tech' and 'low-tech' version, allowing this technique to be used stand-alone in festivals and in large buildings, as well as opening perspectives for developing countries. As you point out, Elisabeth, the situation there is infinitely more complex, which is why we're looking for grants to explore the possibilities, and start a project in which we start from scratch and design the system as such that it could work for rural communities. However, I do not doubt the fact that there will be people with a lot more field experience here (we do also have running projects in South Africa, so we're not complete idiots either), whom I'm very willing to exchange with. For us, the goal is to get to implementation of this technology in a broad context, if it is indeed a competitor/successor of existing technology. To do that, we need funding, partners and investors. The media attention helped quite a bit achieving this.
In any case, I welcome any questions, suggestions and remarks, and hope to disclose a bit more soon.
Please contact me and my supervisor through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
All the best, good luck in your endeavours,
Sebastiaan
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You need to login to reply- Karoliina
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- I work as a Develoment Finance Manager at FELM, a Finnish NGO working on development aid projects. My backround is very much in the WASH sector, I worked in the Global Dry Toilet Association of Finland promoting dry toilet technologies, ecological sanitation and nutrient recycling.
Re: Membrane processing of urine into drinking water
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You need to login to reply- Elisabeth
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Re: Membrane processing of urine into drinking water
Isn't the first sentence funny:
I mean, why do people always assume that their technology would be so easily applicable for developing countries...?A team of scientists at a Belgian university say they have created a machine that turns urine into drinkable water and fertilizer using solar energy, a technique which could be applied in rural areas and developing countries.
And: why would you bother to make drinking water from urine unless you're in a space shuttle or perhaps on a boat a long way from land?
The article says:
Would be nice if someone could follow up on it and invite the researchers to tell us more about this?The urine is collected in a big tank, heated in a solar-powered boiler before passing through the membrane where the water is recovered and nutrients such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus are separated.
Regards,
Elisabeth
Freelance consultant on environmental and climate projects
Located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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You need to login to replyMembrane processing of urine into drinking water (University of Ghent, Belgium)
www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/health...m-urine-machine.html
"Belgian scientists create machine to turn urine into drinkable water"
Is anyone familiar with this technology or project?
Founding Member of Water-Wise Vermont (formerly Vermonters Against Toxic Sludge)
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