We think of human pee as gross and something that ought to be vigorously “cleaned up” or sanitized. However, human urine is actually sterile (unlike faeces, urine is bacteria-free). This liquid by product of our daily lives can be a rich food source if it gets into the RIGHT part of the right ecosystem. Now, most human urine travels untreated into the waterways and the excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus in our urine overfeeds algae (like Red Tide) and effectively suffocates fish.

Nutrients have to be removed by resource-intensive processes at wastewater treatment plants. In the absence of these processes, nutrient discharges pose a risk of eutrophication – threatening in particular coastal waters and fish stocks. Many problematic substances, such as residues of medicines or endocrine disrupters, also enter wastewater via urine and may subsequently be released into the environment. 85-90% of the nitrogen and 50-80% of the phosphorus are concentrated in the urine. These nutrients are desirable in agriculture, but not in water bodies. It may therefore make sense to separate urine from wastewater and use it for fertilizer production.

However, a pioneering biological waste treatment process being used in Switzerland can extract this phosphorus & nitrogen for use as a fertilizer, leaving the rest of urine almost harmless to aquatic life. DrinkPee is a project about the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems. The project includes an installation and a diy kit for turning your pee into fertilizer, using a scale down version of the aforementioned process. This kit gives users the opportunity to replicate the new technique at home and fertilize their plants with their own pee. The project was created by Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray, two artists and collaborators who also own a company called Submersible Design.