Convert pee pee to water?

Question

Since water is running out, why can't people invent a machine that will convert pee into water? Humans make about four trips to the toilet everyday; double it by the current population and we have a whole lotta pee. Can't they also re-route toilet drains into the pee-to-water machine?

Answer 1

if u think its so easy invent it yourself.

Answer 2

Water isn't running out, and sewer water is treated before it gets dumped into the ocean, or into facultative evaporation ponds.  Either way, the atmosphere is the machine you are looking for - water evaporates, either from the ocean or from evaporation ponds, coalesces in clouds, and falls to earth as rain.  The rain forms streams, rivers, and lakes.  People use lakes as reservoirs for drinking water (after some additional treatment of course).

Answer 3

Urine is already recycled in underground septic tanks for watering gardens only

Australia is working a the desalination from the sea

Kangaroo Island I believe has been using that for some time now

Australia

Answer 4

There are a few large water recycling schemes that do this - Singapore, Orange County and Windhoek in South Africa. And there is a large recycle water scheme about to be finished in Brisbane, Australia that will see something like 75% of recycled water put back into the drinking water dam.

All use multiple barrier technology with micro-filtration, Reverse Osmosis and advanced oxidation (combination of ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide).

Interesting point, nitrogen is a big issue in wastewater but can't really be treated with Reverse Osmosis as the nitrogen just ends up in the waste brine and back to the environment.

Nitrogen is best removed biologically, by getting the right cycle of aeration and non-aeration.

Answer 5

blimey, we have been doing it for years. its called a sewage treatment plant. actually the poo is less trouble than the wee, as it settles out or is eaten by microorganisms. the wee makes the effluent very nitrogen rich, the plants in london have to use reverse osmosis as a final stage to filter it out.

Answer 6

umm... sounds pleasant? By the way, water won't run out- it's called the Water Cycle for a reason.

Answer 7

it is called a septic system

Answer 8

Technologically speaking, it would be a simple matter to convert urine to potable water.  Distillation of urine would result in essentially pure water.  Other technologies, such as reverse osmosis, would also perform the same level of purification.

Here's the problem, however:  Throughout the developed world, urine is mixed with fecal matter and other wastes in the sanitary sewers.  Although it is, again, technically possible to purify that waste water in the sewers to the point where it would be safe to drink, it would be very expensive and require much higher levels of treatment than is currently applied to sewage.  In addition, no matter how pure you made it, the idea of drinking reclaimed sewage would be very hard for many people to swallow (excuse the pun), even though many of us live downstream from points where treated sewage is returned to rivers and streams that are used, somewhere downstream, as drinking water supplies.

Answer 9

Water isn't running out, we have exactly the same amount of water on earth today as we had 5000 years ago.  But to address your question, yes waste water can be treated/purified enough to where it's purer than the water coming out of your faucet right now.  The problem is that once people are told about this they don't want to drink that water.