South Africans make bricks from human urine

By Wendell Roelf

 

Dr Dyllon Randall holds a bio-brick made from urine at the University of Cape Town, in Cape Town, South Africa November 2, 2018. The odourless, grey prototype brick was grown in a mould in the lab over eight days and is the final product in a process that also produces fertilisers. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

 

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African researchers say they have made bricks using human urine in a natural process involving colonies of bacteria, which could one day help reduce global warming emissions by finding a productive use for the ultimate waste product.

 

The grey bricks are produced in a lab over eight days using urine, calcium, sand and bacteria. Fertilizers are also produced during the processes. And no, the bricks do not smell.

 

The bricks are made using urea -- a chemical found naturally in urine and also synthesized around the world to make fertilizer. The process of growing bricks from urea has been tested in the United States with synthetic solutions, but the new brick uses real human urine for the first time, the researchers said.

 

"We literally pee this away every day and flush it through the sewer networks," said Dyllon Randall, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town's civil engineering department who is part of the team that developed the brick. "Why not recover this instead and make multiple products?"

 

The bio-bricks are created through a process called microbial induced carbonate precipitation, which is similar to the process that naturally produces coral reefs.

 

Loose sand is colonised with bacteria that produce the enzyme urease. The enzyme breaks down the urea in urine, while producing the rocky substance calcium carbonate through a complex chemical reaction.

 

A brick or column of any shape can be made. The bricks are formed at room temperature, cutting the harmful carbon dioxide emitted when making regular bricks that are kiln-fired.

 

One obstacle preventing mass production: the bricks use huge amounts of pee. To make a single brick requires about 20 litres of urine - a couple of weeks' worth of wee for a typical adult.

 

"So, I get it from the boys bathroom opposite the laboratory. I put a little sign up and all the university boys contribute to my research," said Suzanne Lambert, who proved the concept for the research by making the first brick.

 

"I definitely see commercialisation in the next decade or two, but there is still a lot of lab work to be done," she said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-03

I'm $hitting bricks myself

I can see it now:

Guy caught pissing up the side of a house at night. Police try to charge him. "But officer, I'm working nights rebuilding the wall."

I can't wait for the futur techology of shitbricks houses under the guise of being a 'biobricks', it will give a new meaning to living in shithouse...

8 Days to make 1 pathetic looking brick why waste time on this piss poor effort .

This development is a dream come true for Trump. He can hire Russian prostitutes to Build The Wall—he gets a twofer!

 

The Golden Shower Wall is coming, folks.

5 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I'm $hitting bricks myself

Good one !!!  ha ha ha 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

One obstacle preventing mass production: the bricks use huge amounts of pee. To make a single brick requires about 20 litres of urine - a couple of weeks' worth of wee for a typical adult.

So in other words, lot of research and taxpayers money wasted on another useless experiment

The Munchkins came up with this process decades ago ...

 

 

... and used the bricks to make roads.

 

 

Edited November 3, 20187 yr by chickenslegs

This story must be a piss take.

Extracting the urine!

Time to go ime pissed off now

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That's a very big kidney stone

In Chiang Mai, they make paper from elephant dung

 

http://www.poopoopaperpark.com/en/content/11/about-the-park

 

 

Good idea. Many scientists are working with human waste to make something work.

Human waste is also very good fertilizer and we have more than 8 billion people, so that is a lot of pee & poo you can use. We should use our, any products more and more over and over again, we have the technology.

thats nothing, chinese boils eggs in piss

Piss poor performance I would say. Using piss  calcium urea sand and wait 8 days. there's a lot cheaper and faster way,,,, Get clay bake it, done in a couple hrs

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

On 11/3/2018 at 3:33 PM, janclaes47 said:

So in other words, lot of research and taxpayers money wasted on another useless experiment

That's academia for you

South Africa is slowly, but surely, going down the toilet. Once Mandela was gone it was a gradual total screw-up with the ANC and it has slowly gone down the tubes. African countries seem incapable of running their countries properly to the benefit of all not to mention democracy. So many examples to back up this statement. 

8 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

South Africa is slowly, but surely, going down the toilet. Once Mandela was gone it was a gradual total screw-up with the ANC and it has slowly gone down the tubes. African countries seem incapable of running their countries properly to the benefit of all not to mention democracy. So many examples to back up this statement. 

dunno

there are spots of improvement in sub Sahara,

the old Portuguese colonies are doing not too bad

 

English works there as well.

 

On 11/3/2018 at 5:41 PM, camble said:

In Chiang Mai, they make paper from elephant dung

 

http://www.poopoopaperpark.com/en/content/11/about-the-park

 

 

Yes indeed - I have a photograph album made of it which I purchased near Lampang.

In Chiang Mai, they make paper from elephant dung
 
http://www.poopoopaperpark.com/en/content/11/about-the-park
 
 

Yes when our son went on an elephant ride we got his picture in a frame made from it.

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