USF Builds Poop-Powered Generator
I know what you’re thinking….what a crappy idea! But, hear me out.
There’s a new mini sewage system called the NEWgenerator. It was developed by USF engineering professor Dr. Daniel Yeh and his research team.
“NEW” stands for nutrients, energy and water, which the generator recovers from human waste.
“This system works well,” said Yeh. “It allows us to get rid of our waste and actually recover clean water from that.”
It also harnesses energy. Even in a power outage, it can supply enough power to keep the system running until maintenance can come and restore power.
“People could potentially grow their own food — lettuce crops, any vegetative crops,” said Calabria.
Professor Yeh received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop this in hopes of alleviating some of the problems worldwide with water and sanitation.
“If you think about a community that doesn’t have sanitation, that doesn’t have clean water, is lacking energy; this unit addresses many of those day-to-day concerns,” said Yeh.
They had success during a test in India. The unit was connected to electronic toilets, handling up to 100 users a day.
And it may impact Florida’s algae bloom water dilemma by removing toxic waste.
Stay tuned.
Source: Fox 13
