When you flush the toilet, you’re sending a lot of bad stuff into the sewer. But what you might not realize is that you’re flushing away a lot of good stuff, too. That’s why a team of German scientists have developed a method for recovering those valuable particles.
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If you have ever been to San Francisco, then some part of you—or some former part of you—has almost certainly passed through the city’s Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant. But, considering how utterly vital it is to the city, the wastewater plant is also very much invisible, tucked away in a neighborhood no tourist would have heard of. Bright and early one recent Saturday morning, Gizmodo went to see what San Francisco’s sewage plant is really like.
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When residents of Howard County, Maryland, flush their toilets, their sewage will soon end up at the NSA’s new computer center several miles away. Collecting and storing so much data has been generating a whole lotta heat for the NSA—we mean this quite literally—and the agency’s now buying treated wastewater to cool their equipment.
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Fake sugar found in Ontario’s tap water can be traced back to… sewage. Artificial sweeteners originating in diet soft drinks and foods survive a pretty remarkable journey through our bodies, down the toilet, through the wastewater treatment plant, into rivers, and, finally, into the water flowing out of the tap all over again.
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Recycling wastewater to generate energy has turned up noses before, but researchers at Oregon State University have developed a microbial fuel cell that can create 10 to 50, or even 100 times more electricity per volume than similar technologies. After refining the tech for several years using new materials, techniques and selecting better microbes, the team can now extract two kilowatts per cubic meter of refuse. As bacteria oxidizes organic matter, electrons — rather than the hydrogen or methane that other methods rely upon — are produced and run from an anode to a cathode within the device to create an electric current. Once implementation costs are cut down, the technology could power waste treatment plants and enable them to sell excess electricity. The contraption isn’t just for processing what comes out of the porcelain throne — it can also utilize materials ranging from grass straw to beer brewing byproducts. For now, however, the cell will tackle a pilot study before it inches closer to your local brewery or water treatment facility.
Filed under: Science
Researchers create super-efficient microbial fuel cell, dream of selling excess electricity originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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