#1 or #2

I have often thought whether it would be possible to recycle human liquid waste. I believe I may have touched on this subject on one of my earlier posts on this Blog. This Idea was brought to my attention when watching a video on how to make a Zombie Proof Car:

https://youtu.be/iS8KXHBCimo?t=620

At first I thought the books were part of the joke, though they look like actual books, with wear and tear that is difficult to reproduce. I performed a google search of the books with no success, they look real? So, why not try to address the first book: Water into urine.

Liquid human waste is 91-96% water and the rest is inorganic salts and organic compounds:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_urine_tests#Ions_and_trace_metals

So, the questions is, is it possible to distill urine and make it drinkable? In a distiller the urine is boiled. Since urine is at least 91% water, substances in the urine that have a higher boiling temperature than water are left behind. Though, those that have similar boiling temperature to water, like volatile organic components (VOCs) can often condense along with the distilled water. This can often be removed by passing the water into an Activated Carbon Filter, (simliar to a britta filter).

I have often read on the internet that it is "impossible" to distill urine into water because of the presence of urea and uric acid present in urine, which some people think will turn into ammonia. Both urea and the uric acids form salts with melting and boiling temperatures higher than that of water:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uric_acid

(look on the right hand side bar, under Properties and look at melting temperatures)

Much of this falls under the expertise of Chemistry.

The melting temperature of urea is around 130 degrees C while that of uric acids are around 300 degrees C. Both of which are higher than the boiling temperature of water under typical atmospheric conditions, 100 degrees C.

It is possible that the boiling temperature of urine is different from that of pure water due to the presence of impurities (like urea, uric acids, etc), though due to the low concentration of the impurities the boiling temperature can't be too much different from 100 degrees C.

So, it is theoretically possible to purify urine into water by a properly designed distillation process. Distillers are quite easy to build and often inexpensive to buy:

http://diy-alternative-energy.com/build-a-solar-water-distiller/

https://www.ebay.com/i/121962230969?chn=ps

It is possible to use a parabolic solar concentrator with the distiller apparatus:

https://youtu.be/REQnItNRzuk

Yes, a parabolic solar concentrator has it's drawbacks, small heating spot, and must be pointed to track the sun, takes up a significant amount of surface area, etc. It may be possible to overcome the small heating spot problem by employing a cone or parabola shaped heating plate, with a small surface area at the center of the focus and a larger area at the outer edges of the focus.

The solar griller has one major advantage, after you pay for the concentator and shipping, it is completely FREE to use anytime the sun is out. Furthermore people can make their own parabolic solar griller:

Solar Griller

Other sources of heat, like propane, butane, wood, etc may have some advantages but, for the most part, for most people, most of the time, you will have to PAY every time you use them. Furthermore, these other sources of heat have to be replenished once they are used, the solar griller does not.

So it is possible to take #1 and make it into drinking water, and it can be done for the cost of materials and shipping only.

Next time we will address whether or not it is possible to take #2 and make it into food, where is Anthony Bourdain when you need him. We could use his skills right now #2 into a tasty meal! Maybe make it into a spread?