How to use urine as a natural Fertilizer
Do you know your urine is an excellent plant fertilizer ?
Presentation at the Rich Earth Summit 2021:
ORIAZ Solar-Dripper on French TV FR3
Urine is composed of 95% water with about 0.6% nitrogen, 0.1% phosphorus, 0.2 % potassium, magnesium and many essential minerals for plants ( from : L’Urine, de l’or liquide au jardin, Renaud De Looze).
Those average NPK urine % were also confirmed by independant tests at the University of Vermont ( Rich Earth Institute).
The urine is odorless and almost sterile at first. We all produce 100 to 400 ml of urine about 5 times a day. At home it “disappears” with a flush of 8 to 15 liters of drinkable water and mixes with the rest to form smelly toxic sludge to treat.
This outdated sanitary method alone uses about 18 cubic meters of water per year per inhabitant and it costs us € 72 / year in Annecy (€ 3.96 / cubic meter of water). Collectively in Annecy this represents more than 3.6 million cubic meters of water.
It is the equivalent of about 14 cm of water taken from the lake. The bill for the 200,000 inhabitants is about 15 million € per year just to drain urine in a pipe with drikable water.
> Special invitations to math teachers to check these calculations according to the types WC and to adjust to your local cost of drinkable water.
But taken separately initially, its agricultural use is common in Africa and India because it creates a free fertilizer, the 95% of water is valued and it avoids pollution and sanitary treatment of urine. Many green gardeners already do this near you.
Otherwise you can pay to buy an equivalent commercial fertilizer and pay also to treat your urine.
With the recent drought in Annecy, we decided to continue our experiments because the first tests were very conclusive just like in Africa. This technique of agricultural valorization in fertilizer is applicable also in Annecy, Geneva, Paris, NY, Monaco, Nevada, Moscow or Doubai.
For many people, it seems foolish to mix the urine with the … and detergents to then treat (or not) the mains drainage.
Not only are we wasting drinking water, but it is inappropriate because sanitation is more effective in the soil than in the water.
Without this “all in the sewer” method, the Seine would be swimmable in a short time and free of coliforms.
Fifty years after the fist man step on the moon, this major step for humanity is still not accomplished.
Apart from hippos, other terrestrial mammals do their thing on the ground and would never think of mixing urine and … in a pipe by creating ammonia odors. Even animals spontaneously give a paw to bury their material with leaves. Manure has been used for millennia by farmers because it produces beautiful vegetables.
Why not trying to use urine to fertilize your roses ?
Climate change exposes us to severe droughts or floods, and it is best to find solutions before the Sanitary Sewer Overflow causes again more disasters.
According to the EPA there are up to 200 sewer Overflow events per day in USA. Yes it happened also in Montreal, in Paris, in Marseille or event in Annecy .
The Solar-Dripper is 10 to 100 times more resistant to clogging than conventional drip systems. It permits biofilms and impurities of more than 2 mm to pass. You can use this precision dripper for fertilizer application in your plants or to use unfiltered rainwater. In addition the mixture is directed to 15 cm in the soil by the cone which protects the leaves and the fruits of a possible foliar contact.
This fertilizer application located deeply in the ground with the Solar-Dripper makes it more efficient than a surface application. It also reduces and eliminate odor emanation.
Make your free Eco-Fertilizer :
1- Get Solar-Dripper if you do not already have it. In Switzerland the Solar-Dripper is already in all Migros stores.
2- Urinate in a 1 L bottles with a wide opening of 38 mm or more. For the ladies, a low cost individual collector can facilitate the preparation of your free fertilizer. This new device called Lapee is available for festivals.
3- Add water to obtain a mixture of about 3 % to 25 % of urine depenting if you make a continuous or occasional fertilizer application. The rinsing water for your hands can be recovered also in the bottle. According to a specialist engineer, Mr Renaud De Looze author of this book, a mixt of about 5 % or 1/20 is ideal. After some tests, this rate of 1/20th is perfect.
4- Put this solution in the bottle of Solar-Dripper filled 75 to 90 %. Apply as a normal watering. On corn, for example, a Solar-Dripper can be used on 4 plants and can receive 3 to 4 applications of urine in the season alternately with watering. For tomatoes, one intake per month is appropriate for the first 3 months. If you fill the bottle to 90 % the duration will be extended on or two days compared to filling at 75%.
Example with corn: effect after 2 weeks.
Solar Dripper Challenge: try your free fertilizer #solardripperchallenge.
Let your friends know the results on twitter and help us to promote this eco awarness idea.
The results of this method have been convincing. Houseplants are greener and brighter. Flowering is enhanced, The corn grew very well and was D E L I C I O U S. At the World Water Week, visitors have tasted tomatoes fertilized with urine: proofs are there. You can use it at home, on the balcony and in your garden. It’s simple, free and odourless. As an ecological bonus, you save about 10 L of drinking water and recover the 95% water content in the urine. Start with flowers or trees if you worry about comestible plants.
Of corse, the idea is not to over-fertilize with urine just like with conventional fertilizers.
This procedure is to be used without exceeding nitrogen needs.
This example of useful recovery is a good news and much more appropriate than to collect toxic sludge and to return it (treated or not) in the rivers or in the sea. In addition to this proven method, you can also pour urine directly into your compost or in the bushes or the forests in complete eco-confidence during your walks. Using modern dry toilets is a more natural, appropriate treatment and deserves more development. It is much better than intoxicating the amphibians and making rivers prohibited for swimming . Endocrine disruptors or possible diseases are better neutralized by microorganisms in the soil than in the water.
In short, the Solar-Dripper is the solution to convert a sanitary problem in a Green Symbiotic Ressource.
By buying your Solar-Dripper, you use the latest R&D to preserve nature.
