Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research • Hacker News Board

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#261

Post by smileypete » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 7:43 PM UTC

jakewins wrote: post #236

xfactor973 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to Jenkins that's not true: https://humanurehandbook.com/

The NIH study I linked to tested the bacterial load after 6 months of composting in almost 100 toilets. They found 64.2% of them had dangerous levels of coliform bacteria. Jenkins study, on the other hand, does not even attempt to measure the bacterial levels of his toilets - he simply claims thermophilic composting of human waste creates safe humus. The NIH study shows that thermophilic composting is not the mechani…

'The Loveable Loo is an eco-toilet that requires no water, plumbing, pipes, vents, drains, electricity, or urine separation. It's a toilet that makes gardens. It's designed to collect toilet material for composting in a separate location.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTlLyhkpeI8

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#262

Post by xfactor973 » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 7:47 PM UTC

jakewins wrote: post #236

xfactor973 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to Jenkins that's not true: https://humanurehandbook.com/

The NIH study I linked to tested the bacterial load after 6 months of composting in almost 100 toilets. They found 64.2% of them had dangerous levels of coliform bacteria. Jenkins study, on the other hand, does not even attempt to measure the bacterial levels of his toilets - he simply claims thermophilic composting of human waste creates safe humus. The NIH study shows that thermophilic composting is not the mechani…

That's interesting. I'll have to go through the NIH study in more detail. Thanks for linking that.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#263

Post by TheMiller » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 7:52 PM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #257

vladjjj wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, a proper septic tank (according to EU regulations) has to be water-tight and be emptied regularly. Many beaches on the Mediterranean loose their health pass occasionally due to nearby overbuilding and improper septic tanks.

That's not the case in the US.

At least, it's not the normal case in the U.S. We call that a "holding tank", not a septic tank.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#264

Post by hyperpallium » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 7:55 PM UTC

docbrown wrote: post #40

mindfulplay wrote: post #18

This reminds me of software developer who favor deep, technical, architectural work instead of attractive, "sounds cool on paper" sort of work. To an outsider, the animations look cool but the engine that drives the animation is cooler to software engineers. Point being, this is not something a normal philanthropist would imagine being cool and awesome. This takes someone who actually cares about shit (in this case l…

One thing I always thought fascinating about Gates was his candid relationship with feces. mindfuplay’s comment reminded me of the famous glass of shit water Gates drank from his Omniprocessor project [0]. But within that 2015 article, Gates mentions a long term plan for seweage and shit[1]: >If we can develop safe, affordable ways to get rid of human waste, we can prevent many of those deaths and help more children…

A surgeon who was a missionary in nepal said he'd have had far gteater impact on health by digging ditches, because of open sewers. He didn't, because it was more important to him to be a surgeon.

Seems Bill Gates is trying to improve the whole system, not just some technical aspect. Which also differentiated MS from most technical companies.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#265

Post by xfactor973 » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 8:18 PM UTC

jakewins wrote: post #236

xfactor973 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to Jenkins that's not true: https://humanurehandbook.com/

The NIH study I linked to tested the bacterial load after 6 months of composting in almost 100 toilets. They found 64.2% of them had dangerous levels of coliform bacteria. Jenkins study, on the other hand, does not even attempt to measure the bacterial levels of his toilets - he simply claims thermophilic composting of human waste creates safe humus. The NIH study shows that thermophilic composting is not the mechani…

So after reading the NIH study it looks like the compost toilets they tested were the desiccation kind. I don't really think those should be called compost toilets at all. There's some link somewhere that I can't remember off the top of my head ( maybe it's in the humaure handbook) where Jenkins talks about having his compost sent to a local lab to be tested for harmful bacteria for like a decade or something and it always came back fine.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#266

Post by jnwatson » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 8:52 PM UTC

chiefalchemist wrote: post #250

aplummer wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just _one_ F35, depending on the variant.

Thx. I looked and couldn't find it mentioned per jet.

That’s because there aren’t any honest prices for a single jet. The R&D cost is so high that how one amortizes that can make 2 orders of magnitude difference in unit cost.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#267

Post by jriot » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 9:02 PM UTC

WhompingWindows wrote: post #194

majani wrote: post #110

As an African, I can't help but think that all this charity to Africa might be contributing to us lagging behind in the world. With charities helping out so much, will the local government ever get their act together and provide these functions of public sanitation like they are supposed to? Or will they keep stealing public health funds in the knowledge that charity will always swoop down to save the day? Charities…

Many politicians the world around would characterize government handouts the same way, government enabling morbid obesity. And yet, is there some fundamental objection you have to educating women or providing mosquito nets? Dying to malaria does not seem a good rock-bottom to let people hit, if we can provide them cheap nets.

The bigger issue from an economics perspective - how do you properly distribute mosquito nets to ensure people use them?

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#268

Post by killjoywashere » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 9:27 PM UTC

jniedrauer wrote: post #71

killjoywashere wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because they require a massive infrastructure of sewer lines and treatment plants How do you think economies grow? Job creation at this scale has to be funded out of tax receipts and bonds. The problem is managing the corruption (note: one must assume there are corrupt actors. The trick is managing them).

"Job creation" by itself isn't a very noble goal. Creating hamster wheels for humans to run on is comically cruel and pointless.

Have you ever given someone a job? My experience has been people crave purpose. Sometimes more than life itself.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#269

Post by dogma1138 » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 10:47 PM UTC

WorldMaker wrote: post #237

dogma1138 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on how the tank is setup and the drainage system it has. Septic tanks are not closed systems they are open and intended to provide an environment that can produce a bio-reactor while maintaining drainage through the soil. Many good systems don’t need to be drained other than every few decades in fact good systems would outlast the tank and the filtering substrate it’s built on so when the time comes you ne…

Also, some US states are encountering issues with bio contamination in their aquifers and as water issues become more prevalent (perennial droughts in some states shrinking aquifers making them less resilient to contamination; perennial flooding in others moving the water tables closer to septic tanks and making them more prone to contamination), the requirements to isolate septic tanks from local ecologies will only…

Yes the ground water level, soil permutability, distance to water sources etc. has a lot of implications on what sceptic system you can implement and I would bet that many tanks are put in without much regulation or oversight.

Other areas like those in which ground temperatures drop below freezing for long period of time might also require tight tanks and constant pumping since the cold may stop the reaction in the tank so it would surprise me if tanks in places like say N. Dakota would be pumped year before winter to prevent them from freezing shut and overflowing.

Re: Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research

#270

Post by halbritt » Wed, Nov 07, 2018, 11:06 PM UTC

wingerlang wrote: post #55

halbritt wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a couple of Toto toilets in my house. They have washlets that fit most of their products. I have one. I don't mean to overstate this, but it is life-changing. I can't imagine going back to a time when I used only paper and considered that sufficient.

I agree 100% about the life changing part. But for a cheap solution, go with a hose attached to the toilet. I'd say I prefer them over the Japanese versions. More versatile and the only thing you really lose is the .. heating?

Maybe. My thing has adjustable pressure, it oscillates, and one can adjust the location.

The warmed water is nice, but it has an "eco" mode so there are definitely times when it's not warmed and it's no big deal. I'd guess the biggest advantage would be the ability to just sit there and have the robotic arm take care of things for you without having to move around.