What if we changed our view and habits to treat urine and reuse valuable, limited nutrients?

Human urine contains Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, important nutrients that are crucial for plant growth. These nutrients are flushed into our wastewater and are only partly recovered. Urine makes up about 70% of the nutrients in wastewater, yet only contributes to ~1% of the volume. It is difficult to recover these nutrients through conventional practices since the nutrients are diluted by toilet water, kitchen waste, and industrial waste in the wastewater.

Nutrients, Plants, and Human Urine

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) are key nutrients plants rely on, but can be difficult to obtain in the correct form. Synthetic fertilizer is used to deliver these key nutrients and stimulate healthy plant growth, but is created via energy-intensive and environmentally-harmful production processes.

For example, Nitrogen fertilizers are created using the energy intensive Haber-Bosch Cycle which accounts for 1% of the global energy consumption. Phosphorus, another main element in fertilizer, is a mined, limited resource that may not be economically feasible to harvest within the next fifty years due to gradual depletion of convenient sources (Cordell et al, The story of phosphorus: Global food security and Food for Thought, 2009). It is not distributed equally across Earth, and is subject to large price swings and international agreements.