Here’s a story that should gladden the hearts of all EcoSanologists. On page 23 of Developments issue 41, just published but not yet on the web (check here), there’s a report of the work by students at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, England, for Architects for Aid, on using urine to make mud bricks − and they outperformed those made with water. The rationale for this development was that, in refugee camps or following natural disasters water is in short supply and mostly needed for drinking, with none or very little left to make mud bricks for new shelter. So it's people → urine → mud bricks. Good solution! More details here and here, and report here.
Urine contains urea which is a good binder for the mud. Pig urine is good too − see pdf page 5 of The Brick Master of Kerala; also horse urine (see here).
About Me
- Duncan Mara
- University of Leeds, United Kingdom
- I'm an emeritus professor of civil engineering at the University of Leeds in England. I've been working on low-cost sanitation in developing countries since the mid-1970s, and also on low-cost wastewater treatment and reuse. I was a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, 1970-73 and then a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee, Scotland, 1974-79 before moving to Leeds in late 1979. I was a visiting professor of sanitary engineering at the Universidade Federal da Paraiba in Campina Grande, northeast Brazil, during 1976-95, and since 1996 I have been a visiting professor of environmental engineering at the Instituto Cinara, Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia.