Years ago, we were approached by one of the Port-O-Let dealers in Michigan. He had this idea he wanted us to help him develop.

He recognized that he could easily separate out the urine from the fecal matter. And, he wanted to take the urine and extract valuable proteins and chemicals. And, then sell the products for use.

Now, I know that doesn’t sound appetizing at first, but he really had a great concept. (One, admittedly, that didn’t quite thrill the Food and Drug Administration either.) But, it turns out that there wasn’t enough of the compound he wanted to sell to make the endeavor worthwhile.

It turns out that there’s lots of other stuff that can make dealing with our urine worthwhile, things that can make a vendor money, things that can make us safer. One of the processes to deal with such waste is treating it via a microbial fuel cell (MFC). (I first reported on  the J. Craig Venter Institute’s  MFCconcept here.)

This technical group has decided to team up with Oxfam, a charity that provides food and other services to the poor around the world. The professors at the University of West England (Bristol) developed their own MFC version. This project is under the supervision of Dr. Ioannis Ieropoulos, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (The technical paper describing the system is found here. )

First of all, the concept of an MFC has been around for more than a century. But, nowadays, our components are more advanced, so the system works more reliably. And, the MFC can be pretty small- with the bacteria separated from the wastewater by (in this case) ceramic membranes. Dirty water enters and is cascaded among 288 MFC where the bacteria clean it up; the purified water drains out (where it can be used to grow crops).  The MFC, in the process of cleaning up the waste, has the microbes separate protons (positively charged atomic units) and electrons (negatively charged atomic units). This is from where the source of electricity is derived.

The reliable production of electricity is the key reason Oxfam wants these units. The outhouses (they call them portable outdoor bathrooms) can provide sufficient electricity to power a fan in the bathroom area, provide lighting around the unit, or even recharge batteries that can power cell phones and other modern conveniences.

Oxfam wants this electricity used in this fashion because it makes the outhouses much safer for women and girls; that lighting is a critical safety feature. The fan operation makes it more comfortable to use the bathroom.  Of course, having the ability to use a cell phone is another advantage for the folks being aided by Oxfam.

Safety. Sanitation. Irrigation. In a disaster zone.

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