5/19: Initial Thoughts

Although human waste is a completely natural process, the way we currently dispose of it is not so. It seems second-nature to use urinals/toilets and the only option short of pissing and shitting on the ground is to dispose of our waste through current management systems. What if though, there was a way to eliminate the negative, disgusting vibe that human waste currently has, and still dispose or reuse it in a manner that did not involve so much energy, water, and human input. After researching living machines for a brief while, they could potentially be a very viable alternative to the current water/energy powered system we see today.

The reason for bringing up an alternative is to eliminate the need to use massive amounts of potable water, which takes a lot of energy to transport and treat prior to getting to homes/buildings, only to dispose of it through sewage system moments after dirtying it. I agree that leaving grey and blackwater sitting idle in our homes and buildings is not a feasible option to eliminating our need to potable water, but being able to manage and re-use these water forms on-site would be a huge resource saver in our society.

Initial problems will involve getting around notions that human waste can only be dealt with by taking it as far away from the site as possible. Instilling human trust that living machines can deal with their waste away from their contact, yet still on-site and allow them to re-use it in valuable forms will be a key factor in living machine adoptions. Most likely, up-front cost of new systems or retro-fits will scare some away, but seeing the endless cost savings benefit will hopefully lure societies into utilizing living machines in new and current development. In the long run, this tool has the ability to greatly decrease our dependency on potable drinking water, for which we mostly use for purposes other than drinking (90%) and with the current success, can be easily adopted in many infrastructures.