AI for Urinals?
A Future H2O Research Brief
Treavor H. Boyer & Daniella Saetta (2019). Opportunities for Building-Scale Urine Diversion and Challenges for Implemenation. Accounts of Chemical Research. DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.8b00614
The Big Takeaway?
We waste a lot of fresh water in flushing urinals, especially in venues like office buildings, concert halls, stadiums, and big public arenas. Waterless urinals have been deemed impractical for use in these venues because (not to put too fine a point on it) they smell. But these findings could make waterless urinals a more practical option.
What’s New?
Current waterless urinals rely on manual management by janitors to control their odors — a hit-or-miss proposition. This research addresses the smell problem with a unique combination of technology and environmental engineering. Sensors monitor the urine chemistry in the urinals; when the pH gets to a certain level, the sensor triggers the addition of chemicals that manipulate the urine chemistry, and therefore the smell — making a waterless urinal more appealing to use.
Beneficiaries?
Any building or organization that wants to conserve water can use this technology. In addition, this technology has the potential to save money for any manager of big public or private venues that use a lot of fresh water and generate a lot of wastewater — without scaring their customers or their fans away.
Timeline/Obstacles to Implementation?
Right now, the technology has only been tested in the lab; testing it in a building is the next step. The biggest barrier to deployment is probably the cost of retrofitting, so initial deployment might be into new buildings.
Is This AI for Urinals?
In a sense. This technology keeps people out of the loop, and makes the odor control and maintenance much more efficient and precise.
The Researchers
Treavor H. Boyer is an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and program chair of Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University. His research and teaching interests include water quality and physical-chemical processes.
Daniella Saetta is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on building-scale implementation of urine diversion systems.
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