One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.With this philosophy, Bill Gates, the philanthropist has
taken up the task to end the misery of billions of people when it comes to
clean drinking water. But how does he do it and that too in the cheapest way
possible? BY TURNING POOP INTO WATER!
Janicki Omniprocessor, developed by Peter Janicki, CEO of
Janicki Bioenergy and funded by the Gates Foundation, turns sewer sludge into
electricity, clean drinking water and ash. Seems the perfect solution for
places where we open the tap and what comes out of it (the water) is worse than
what we get from the roof when it’s raining. Bill Gates states, “At least 2
billion use latrines that aren’t properly drained. Others simply defecate in
the open. The waste contaminates drinking water for millions of people and has
horrific consequences. Diseases caused by poor sanitation kill around 700,000
children every year and prevent many more from fully developing both mentally
and physically”. If we can develop safe, clean and affordable sanitation and
waste management techniques, we can prevent many deaths and help in promoting a
healthy lifestyle. One idea, as Gates suggested, is to reinvent the toilet
where human waste will be destroyed or converted into a valuable resource such
as fuel or fertilizer.
Another way is to reinvent the sewage treatment plant. With
this vision of Bill, Janicki Bioenergy designed and built the Janicki
Omniprocessor. Firstly, the machine is fed with sewer sludge which is boiled at
a high temperature of approximately 1000 degree Celsius inside a large tube
called the dryer. Here, in the boiling process, the water vapour is separated
from the solids. The dried solids are then fed into the fire which can develop
high pressure, high temperature steam. Steam, when taken into the steam engine
drives the generator which in turn creates electricity. The electricity, apart
from being used to run the Omniprocessor, can also be supplied to the
community. Now the water vapour created in the boiling process is run through
the cleaning system that uses a cyclone and several filters to remove harmful
particles. Further condensation leads to clean drinking water. “The water
tasted as good as I’ve had out of a bottle.” Gates continued. “And having
studied the engineering behind it, I would happily drink it every day. It’s
that safe."
One Omniprocessor is designed to continually provide water
for upto 100,000 people. Local entrepreneurs will run the processors,
collecting sludge to produce the water and energy. The first machine will be
tested in Dakar, Senegal. Gates Foundation is working towards the goal to make
the processors cheap enough that entrepreneurs in low and middle income
countries will want to invest in them and start profitable waste-treatment.
India is being seen as a great prospect to install the Omniprocessor where lots
of entrepreneurs would own and operate the processors, as well as the companies
with the skill to manufacture many parts.
The whole business model associated with it opens up various
doors and opportunities. “Now, waste would turn into a commodity with its real
value in the marketplace”, states Gates. In places where fresh water is hard to
come by, water from poop is the way ahead.
0 comments:
Post a Comment