Everyone knows that food consumed by any living form is ultimately expelled as an excrement and given that foods contain valuable nutrients, whatever is generated as a result of digestion must have a further nutrient value. This is known to be the case for excrement with output from herbivores. Here we consider human faeces. Humans are different. Humans are omnivorous, our diet includes a broader spectrum of foods, the excrement from which needs careful consideration.

So, can you use human faeces as fertilizer?

Human faeces can, and is, being used as fertilizer. This has to be sewage that’s been treated to keep disease risks to an absolute minimum. Human faeces sewage has been used as a fertilizer in agriculture for centuries. It’s a practice that’s fully regulated and yet to show any contra effects.

Human faeces is a very rich source of nutrients but there are worries about contaminants that are present in human sewage including those from pharmaceuticals and a variety of heavy metals. Anything to do with human faeces must be managed with extreme caution.

Anyone thinking about adding human faeces to their composting system needs to think very carefully. The best way to manage this, in the micro-form, is to use a specially designed composting toilet that processes this type of material away from your main compost system. We have a post that looks at how this can be done. Check out ‘Composting toilet’ to find out more.

Those who promote the recycling of sewage waste want to present it as a natural product that can be processed in ways that will remove harmful bacteria and viruses. Having been treated, it can then be spread on farm-land for growing crops. This is by far the most convenient solution. The alternative is to dump it somewhere and where would this be? Out to sea? Landfill? An ongoing problem of this size can’t be just ‘wished’ away.

Do US farmers use human waste as fertilizer?

Do farmers use human waste as fertilizer UK?

Can you use human faeces for compost?

Can you put human urine in compost?

Can human faeces be used as fuel?

To instill a little more dignity into the subject, sewage that has been processed for use as fertilizer is now being known as’ bio-solids’. A simple, natural product being placed back into the ecosystem in a way that disposes of the problem at the same time as producing crops to feed the world.

Can you use human faeces as fertilizer? Yes but don’t mess with this at home!

While the level of bacteria and viral contamination appears to be largely under control in treated waste, there are serious concerns about other ingredients that modern-life has added to our sewage. Most of the problems appear to be generated by the pharmaceutical industry. It’s long been known that there are a range of metals that ride through the processing of sewage waste. The modern demands for new and improved, or luxury, products has given rise to a range of metals being used, consumed and then allowed to go down the drains into the sewers. One of these being silver. Although in very small quantities, metals can build up in agricultural soil over time if there are regular doses of treated sewage sludge applied to land.

Recent research has, worryingly, shown low levels of contaminants in animals that have fed on crops and plants that have been fertilized with sewage sludge. It’s being argued that the regulations need to be much tighter.

Sewage sludge has to be processed in two ways before it can be released for use as a plant-food fertilizer. The first is anaerobic digestion. This is done in an airtight vessel that excludes oxygen. When the digestion is complete we are left with methane, carbon dioxide, water and solids that have been broken down into fine particles.

The second part involves high-temperature heat sterilization. These two approaches aim to remove the pathogens that will be there from the outset.

The concern among some is that this process may not be enough to destroy all the bacteria that gather in sewage waste and that some of these bacteria may have antibiotic resistance.

No one knows the long term effect of applying sewage sludge on land as a fertilizer. The levels of worrisome contaminants are very low. The effect on the environment may never be noticed as the soil may have the ability to neutralise the problem enough to suppress it.

Farmers can apply for sewage sludge to be spread on land for cropping. This is a much cheaper fertilizer option compared to conventional synthetic pelleted fertilizers. The municipal, local government departments are in favour of off-loading the problem for payment as it eases landfill pressures and raises cash.

Organically managed land mustn’t have any sewage waste applied. Organic farming is strictly regulated. The use of sewage waste is seen as too much of a risk, with the judgement being that there are so many potentially harmful contaminants.

It’s clear that this is a subject that needs to be monitored closely. At this point in time the general view is that a level of contamination from the pharmaceutical industries is being acknowledged. We have the ability to measure down to very low levels to establish the presence of almost every known compound.

The question being played with here is, how much of this can nature absorb and disperse before it gathers up and revisits us as a much larger problem? Bio-solids are manageable. We need to develop the ability to extract, isolate and or neutralize any potentially harmful compounds that are found in our modern-day sewage waste.

The prize is big. Just imagine if all the gathered sewage waste could be used to safely produce food all over the developed world. This would be a ‘utopia’ among recycling systems.

Do US farmers use human waste as fertilizer?

Human waste is used by farmers in the United States as fertilizer. It’s known as bio-solids and it’s the much-preferred way of human waste or sewage. Forestry and farm fields have a place for human waste. Not all human waste or sewage is made use of. There are facilities that burn it and some goes to landfill.

About 50% of the sewage waste generated in the US is used in by farmers in agriculture as a fertilizer. All of it has to be treated to a standard that satisfies the Environmental Protection Agency. This requires that all human waste has to be treated at least once before it can be applied to land for agricultural purposes. This involves anaerobic digestion which reduces the sewage waste to a watery mix of broken down organic sludge with methane gas having been released.

This stage will remove the familiar smells that are associated with human sewage waste. After this one treatment the remaining material is known as a class B bio-solid. At this stage it can be used but there are restrictions on where it can be used and what it can be used for. This basic treatment will only reduce the concentration of pathogens, it can’t clear them completely.

Class A bio-solids are achieved only after high-temperature treatment. This can then be used without restrictions as there are no pathogens that are detectable. There will, however, be an assortment of compounds that accumulate in human sewage waste that will ride through both processes.

Do farmers use human waste as fertilizer UK?

UK farmers use human waste as fertilizer and have done so for decades. The process is highly regulated. Before human waste can be used as a fertilizer, tests are carried out to ensure that there are no harmful impurities. Human waste tends to contain heavy metals e.g. mercury which needs to be kept to a minimum.

In the UK the whole process appears to be accepted without too many concerns. Some farmers are using just human waste as fertilizer rather than buying conventional chemical fertilizer. Human sewage waste has to be fully treated before it can be spread on the land. There are strict standards which have to be met allowing it to be used as fertilizer for producing crops for human consumption and animal feed.

It’s spread as a sludge on fields that grow maize, oats and other corn crops e.g. barley and wheat.

This hasn’t been favoured by some of the supermarkets. Some declare that they are selling products that have been grown using ‘bio-solids’ while others have banned it completely amid controversies about potential health worries.

The government has confidence in the safety of using bio-solids, for what that is worth, a practice that appears to be on the increase due to increasing demand. Spreading biosolid sludge on land for crop growing is a relatively new way of disposal. In the past it was dumped at sea, this is now banned. Incineration and sending to landfill sites have been the other options.

There hasn’t been much, if any, public resistance to the using of bio-solids as a crop fertilizer, largely due to the fact that not many people know that it’s happening. The only people who complain are those who live in the immediate vicinity as there is a smell when spreading, although this doesn’t last long. The smell is much reduced due to the digestion treatment process. After spreading, the sludge will settle into the soil and any smell will quickly subside. Some farmers are using only biosolid sludge as it is much cheaper than conventional manufactured fertilizers.

The treatment process will remove most of the pathogens that give cause for concern but there still remains the issue of a range of heavy metals which can be found in sewage bio-solids. Among these is Cadmium which tends to be found in most vegetables that are grown where sewage sludge is applied. The worry is that Cadmium is thought to be responsible for kidney malfunctions.

Government regulations require that sewage sludge is worked deep into the ground so that it is fully exposed to the natural actions of soil. There must be a period of no less than 10 months between being ploughed into the soil and the harvesting of any crops. For vegetables that will be eaten raw e.g. lettuce, the period between application and harvest is no less than 30 months. During this time-frame we can expect there to be sufficient rainfall to effectively rinse away much of the heavy metal impurities that we want to avoid.

Can you use human faeces for compost?

You can use human waste or human faeces for compost but you need to be very careful. Human waste must not be handled until it has become fully composted. You must prepare for this to take between 1 to 2 years. Use a specially-designed compost toilet. These contain the human waste in a sealed compartment.

There are environmental enthusiasts who want to take recycling to the absolute extreme and to the point where they knit their own toilet paper and recycle their own faeces. There is no doubt that this can be done but is it a good idea?

If you talk to anyone who understands the chemistry and biology involved with this, they will tell you that making compost, or humanure, from human faeces is not a safe thing to do. No one is doubting that faeces contains nutrients that plants would use if presented but there are worrying complications that come with it.

Faeces contains a vibrant selection of bacteria and viruses that will easily survive the basic decomposition process that is ‘composting’. How many of us would feel comfortable about the roots of edible or fruiting plants, of any kind, being dangled in such material?

You need to be aware that any ‘home-made’ system for making humanure won’t have the advantages of a large-scale industrial process. Here there will be a precisely-planned procedure where the faeces goes through a digester to break the material down as far as possible. It’s then subjected to high temperatures that remove potentially harmful bacteria and viruses. The whole process is fully regulated with samples being tested to ensure that the final product is compliant with all requirements.

You can find out more about composting toilets here.

Can you put human urine in compost?

You can put human urine in compost but, as with any human waste, you need to exercise caution. Hygiene is important where human waste is involved. Human urine can be a valuable ingredient in compost because of the high level of nitrates. This will be particularly useful if you want to make compost from dead leaves.

Adding human urine to any compost pile is effective. The nitrates in human urine are just what we need for making compost. The adding of such a rich source of nitrates to a compost heap will help enormously if we are trying to make compost from any woody, carbon based material. There doesn’t appear to be anything about human urine that’s harmful to the environment.

Here we include leaves, dried grass clippings, shredded hedge trimmings shredded paper and cardboard. The carbon in these components requires enough of a nitrate input to achieve a balance. If there is too much of either carbon or nitrogen then compost won’t be formed.

As a good source of nitrogen, human urine can be diluted and applied directly to a cropping area. This has been done for thousands of years in a variety of countries around the world. Human urine or any type of urine, must be diluted before applying directly as a fertilizer plant-feed. In an undiluted form there is a risk that the nitrate concentration may be too much for the plant to handle. This could kill the plant rather than promote growth.

Although human waste requires careful handling for hygienic purposes, there are reports that some people actually drink human urine. There are no such recommendations that anyone should do so, here.

Can human faeces be used as fuel?

Human faeces can be used as fuel. Work has been done to develop a process that turns human faeces into fuel heating the human waste to render it into, what’s known as, ‘hydrochar’. This is human feaces that’s been converted to a form of charcoal. The heated faeces can then be safely used as fuel.

Solid human faeces will burn if dry. This may be done somewhere in the world but you are more likely to find dried cattle dung being used as a fuel. This happens in some of the hottest parts of the world e.g. India where it’s dried as cakes in the baking sun and used for cooking.

Human faeces can generate gas when allowed to digest in a sealed compartment with some low heat applied. This is known as anaerobic digestion. The contents of the digester vessel must be liquid enough for the gas bubbles to be able to migrate to the top where it can be channeled for collection and storage.

A range of gasses will be generated. Some may be sulphurous. There will be carbon dioxide but the main gas will be methane, it’s this that will serve as a fuel. Everything except the methane is an impurity and will need to be separated by passing the gaseous mixture through a series of filters to clean it. The practicalities of doing this just for the gas yield is questionable. Methane production by this means is often a by-product of a digestion process used for converting human sewage into safe-to-use, bio-solid fertilizer. After the gas has been removed, the remaining sludge can be spread on the land for growing crops.