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Human Urine: the solution to an international shelter problem?

Feature article in developments website

Sheffield University Architecture Department has a reputation for innovation in the “Live Projects” run by Professor Jeremy Till. The new and truly innovative research project was set up after Article 25’s CEO Dr Victoria Harris was at a shelter conference where UN Habitat spoke of the disastrous shelter situation in Darfur. The need for shelter was so great that it would require more timber than the entire number of trees in the region; and yet making mud bricks – the ‘obvious’ alternative– was not viable because all the water was needed for drinking. Dr Harris thought immediately that the answer could be to use the water after the users had finished drinking their fill. In other words: use human urine to mix the bricks.

Sheffield University’s Professor Jeremy Till is known for his innovative use of sustainable building solutions. He and his partner Sarah Wigglesworth (of the eponymous and celebrated firm) work out of an amazing, modern building made of straw bales in North London. It was there last night that students presented the answer to the question posed by Article 25. The answer was that human urine works. And it works better than water. There is a good reason for this – urea is an excellent binding agent. Pigs’ urine has been used in mixing mud brick in many places around the world. Animal dung is very often used in building. But human waste?

In a small Welsh Museum dedicated to the history of wool you will find that human urine was bought by the wool-makers to use in the processing of wool. Locals were paid a penny a gallon for their pee. Methodists, two pence a barrel as their teetotal habits meant their urine was the purer. Human urine is frequently used in the field, the researchers showed. Crop fertiliser being the common end-use product.

What about the possibilities of disease? Well, as Madonna has publicly stated, she is all in favour of urine use herself because fresh, healthy human urine is totally sterile (drinkable to some) and has mild antiseptic qualities. Her point at the time was that peeing in the shower is therefore far from unhygienic and in fact could be recommended for some health reasons. Contamination of the urine is the problem but there are relatively easy ways to collect and separate urine for use. Sterility can be maintained easily after this. Storage for long period is a purifying method, the study revealed, and so is exposure to sunlight.

But the smell? Well this is a problem at first, but open storage allows the ammonia to be chased of and as Professor Till can attest – after separating the urine, a dry composting toilet such as the one he has at the straw bale house, does not smell.

The study included sniff tests, crush tests, scratch tests, pounding with water jets and soaking tests showed the toughening effects of the urine compared to the water. Several hundred standardised bricks were made and dried and pummelled in various controlled situations.

Sheffield, Article 25 (and Madonna) are not alone in advocating for human urine. Oxfam have been working with Solent University to investigate mud brick binding agents and Dr Gordon Browne – a guru of mud bricks - has also proposed human urine could be used in this way. These results of this collaboration of Article 25 and Sheffield now show that this is certainly a viable solution, to both the UNHabitat question for Darfur and to Oxfam’s enquiry.

Professor Till commented, “this is truly innovative work and there is certainly a PhD's worth of additional work that can be done surrounding this”. Article 25’s next steps are to call in as much collaboration as possible – from academics and NGOs so they can help as many aid agencies and shelter providers as possible. “We work by helping other aid agencies and charities achieve viable built solutions. We aim to work for the long term. Buildings last. They are sustainable in literal, temporal sense. And shelter is a matter not just for consideration in disasters and humanitarian crises but a long term issue, a human rights issue. Poverty after all is as much an emergency as an earthquake or a cyclone. It is just a long emergency. The amazing work of the Sheffield department of architecture has shown that some answers are found in unexpected places. Like the bladder. But are effective in their simplicity”.

Jack Pringle the immediate past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects commented that the project was “exemplary of the ethos of Article 25, using architectural intelligence to help and empower people who would not otherwise have access to design and research input.”

Project Blog: http://01liveproject07.wordpress.com/