Nearly a third of the world's population or 2.3 billion humans have no modern toilets and only use squat toilets that hold dirt in a large underground hole. Now, researchers at the University of Bath in England use artificial impurities to find a safe way to process human waste.
The manure was created by mixing the yeast commonly used to make beer, miso paste, some sort of weed, crumpled toilet paper, peanut oil, potassium and water.
The mixture has the same physical and chemical properties as the original human waste, which in many poor countries is used as fertilizer after it is dried.
But it is not easy to determine whether all bacteria and germs are dead in the drying process. Naomi Deering, an expert at Bath University, uses the manure to find the best drying system.
"We want to see if we can dry the manure well; and how high the temperature is in the dirt, because high temperatures are important to ensure that all bacteria and germs are dead. "
The thick manure was drained with the sun, to evaporate the water content. The temperature of the dirt increases with the decrease in water content, and that heat kills the pathogenic bacteria and parasitic eggs.
Once dried, and reach a certain density, then the dirt can be held safely. The team led by Naomi Deering uses different moisture levels, temperatures and moisture levels to mimic real human waste, to determine how long a proper drying process is.
This is important because the sterilized sterilization will have a major impact on health in various human groups. Naomi Deering said again:
"Each year 750 thousand children under the age of five die from various diseases associated with diarrhea. Not to mention if seen the number of children who are inhibited physical growth due to diarrhea, and how many will not be able to school because of illness. We have calculated that for every dollar used to improve sanitation systems, the economic benefits will be five. "
Experts hope experiments with manmade dirt will help to make guidance for local residents to safely process their faeces