Eric and all<div><br></div><div>Ingenious and no doubt workable - but it looks to me like the kind of silly research that so many academics waste time and money on. (I speak as a retired academic myself!) </div><div><br></div>
<div>Lets consider the practical barriers to its widespread use - bearing in mind that their video says that their aim is to provide an off-grid sanitation system for use in developing countries.</div><div><ol><li>Cost - even with a minimal panel area, it wouldn't be cheap.</li>
<li>How many hours of sunshine - again with a minimal panel area - would be needed for sanitization after one use?</li><li>Their little 'holding tank' supposedly allows AD to break down faecal matter - but it would need to be very much bigger and more expensive to do so effectively.</li>
<li>That combination of concerns suggest that it would not be remotely affordable for individual households. Economies of scale would apply at community level - but the size and cost of the solar array would multiply on a more-or-less per capita basis (or maybe I should per backside!) so it would still be expensive</li>
<li>With frequent use (especially at community level) the system might need multiple treatment tanks operated on a timed sequence to ensure adequate treatment time - more cost, more complexity.</li><li>They've thought of batteries to cover night use but what about cloudy days - or weeks? There aren't many places in this world where the sun shines for hours every day, whereas using the toilet is a daily need. Back-up generators? More cost! Petrol to drive it? More cost! (Yes, AD stage would generate biogas - but it would be very costly to store enough gas to fuel the generator during a cloudy spell, which might last for weeks.)</li>
<li>All this complexity has to be maintained - and all systems would need to be backed-up because of the risk of breakdowns, (One of the first design rules for any kind of sewage treatment system is to keep it simple and very reliable -- because shit just keeps on coming, so you can't shut down for repairs!)</li>
<li>The overall
environmental impact of manufacturing all this kit would be substantial</li><li>Finally, several of the components are easily stolen (panels, batteries, generators) and easy to sell on. My experience in Africa suggests that this could be a major weakness.</li>
<li>So if one of these superloos ever gets installed in a real-world application in a developing country, I wouldn't bet on it working for very long. We might see them sooner in the developed world at sensitive locations (eg national parks) - but even there the overall environmental benefit would be open to question, so they might be mere greenwash.</li>
</ol><div>Bill and Melinda should spend their money on something more useful than feeding the egos of researchers! </div><div><br></div><div>Promoting low-tech reliable sanitation systems, which can be built operated and maintained by local labour, would be a good start.....</div>
<div><br></div><div>Duncan Martin</div><div>Cloughjordan Ecovillage</div><div>Ireland</div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 7 September 2012 00:39, eric roy <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mailericroy@yahoo.com" target="_blank">mailericroy@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">
Hi Everyone,</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I was wondering if any of you have seen this system and can comment on it. I find it very interesting on how they're using some sort of electro-chemical cell to sanitize the supertenent outflow for water-reuse. </div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/toilet-of-the-future-caltech-solar-powered-toilet-video-photos_n_1791874.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/toilet-of-the-future-caltech-solar-powered-toilet-video-photos_n_1791874.html</a></font><br>
</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
Do you think they're cycling salt water through out the system? or fresh water? </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">How expensive and reliable this type of fuel cell is? I thought it was pretty cool, and would love to learn a little bit more about it. If you know more about this system please let me know.</div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
Cheers</div></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
Digestion mailing list<br>
<br>
to Send a Message to the list, use the email address<br>
<a href="mailto:Digestion@bioenergylists.org">Digestion@bioenergylists.org</a><br>
<br>
to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page<br>
<a href="http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org" target="_blank">http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org</a><br>
<br>
for more information about digestion, see<br>
Beginner's Guide to Biogas<br>
<a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/" target="_blank">http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/</a><br>
and the Biogas Wiki <a href="http://biogas.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">http://biogas.wikispaces.com/</a><br>
<br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div>