The Future of Urine Diversion - An Australian context

Sammanfattning: With world population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, global food production needs to rise by up 70 %. This will require even more extensive use of fertilizers. In the wake of an emerging climate crisis the need for biofuels will also increase and further exacerbate the nutrient demand. Most conventional fertilizers are today produced in an unsustainable way and minerals such as phosphorus and potassium that are essential to crop growth are non renewable. This calls for a need to find alternative nutrient sources. From the wastewater stream nutrients can be recycled in various ways. One way is to separate the urine at source in the toilet before it gets in contact with faeces. This way the urine can be used as a sterile and versatile fertilizer containing all of the essential nutrients. This thesis examines the drivers and barriers that could promote or hamper the development of urine diversion. A urine diversion trial at Kinglake, Victoria, Australia has been studied in order to explore the future of urine diversion in Australia.