Urine proves fertile ground for students

Source: Bangkok Post, ThailandJuly 24--Quite often we see men urinating openly in dark corners, giving natural fertiliser to the bushes and trees alongside streets.存倉So if urine can be used to grow crops, why not pee in gardens instead of disposing of it elsewhere?Students at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) thought that idea less realistic, so they ended up producing an alternative _ Thailand's first men's urinals equipped with a fertiliser producer.The innovation received a creativity award at a water management innovation competition held for the third year by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and East Water Resources Development and Management Plc.Bussarakam Kunwong, a fourth-year student in KMUTT's engineering faculty, said the innovation was developed from a project she created during her second year.She devised a water-recycling system for flushing by using a filtering system with activated carbon. Then she learned urine contains nutrients that have high benefits for plants, especially nitrogen or what we commonly know as urea.Thidarat: Project will benefit farming"Collecting a significant amount of urine and using it to produce fertiliser will help to lower costs for Thailand's agricultural sector. That's why I thought of expanding my previous project to become a urine-separating toilet," said Ms Bussarakam, who led the team of five.She said the invention will have huge benefits if it is installed at public toilets that are widely used such as portable toilets that have自存倉small water tanks.Prof Thidarat Bunsri of KMUTT's environmental engineering department said an average toilet flush uses six litres of water compared with only one litre for KMUTT's men's urinal.The system has been developed to work automatically for both separating urine for producing fertiliser and releasing treated water to flush the toilet.There is no need for users to touch the cleaning system, so it is convenient for the elderly and disabled, said Prof Thidarat, who is also the team's adviser.The efficacy of urine as fertiliser is also confirmed, as it has a slower dilution rate than other types of fertiliser, making it last longer if it is washed away by water. This also means less fertiliser is used, while consumers can be sure it is free from disease-causing bacteria and microbes, said Prof Thidarat.The device uses a censor so that when people go to pee, light reflects to the sensor, enabling the automatic valve in the urinal to open and release the urine to a tank.When people finish and walk away, no light reflects to the sensor, causing the valve to open and release water from the filter tank, which is able to eradicate 89% of the ammonia.The tank used for keeping urine contains a tool to measure the concentration of ammonia and pH value.The system ensures urine has the appropriate chemical combinations for producing fertiliser.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) Visit the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) at www.bangkokpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉新蒲崗