Wastewater - Turning Problem to Solution

CASE STUDY 11

Urine separation – Alkaline dehydration in practice in Malmö, Sweden Prithvi Simha , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Energy and Technology, Sweden

As part of the ongoing research project REWAISE, co-funded by the EU, a urine-separating toilet integrated with a urine dryer was installed at the offices of VA SYD, the company that manages water and wastewater treatment in Sweden’s Skåne region. The toilet has been co-developed with the design firm EOOS NEXT and makes use of the space below the wall-mounted toilet. It has the capacity to evaporate 10 litres of urine per day and needs to be serviced only once a month. It

is equipped with a sensing platform that controls urine inflow and overflow and drying conditions, and alerts maintenance staff when it is time to empty the drying container and collect the dried urine. VA SYD’s motive for testing urine source separation is to reduce the nitrogen load to their Sjölunda treatment plant, which serves Malmö, Sweden’s fastest growing city. Two more toilets drying urine on-site are scheduled to be installed, in Brunnshög, Lund and Sege Park, Malmö.

©EOOS NEXT & Sanitation360

Figure 3.3: Laufen’s Save! toilet has an EOOS “Urine Trap” to separately collect human urine at source. Source: Laufen and EOOS.

©EOOS NEXT & Sanitation360

A Save! urine-separating toilet integrated with an alkaline urine dehydrator implemented at the offices of VA SYD in Malmö, Sweden.

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