Dustin Diedel

Quick Background: Purchasing a late 1960's home with a 100amp underground service cable and box. It has two double taps and a pigtail (pigtail I believe is for AC). Hot water, stove/oven, clothes dryer and heat is currently powered by gas.

Goals:
Final goal is to be off-grid.
Current goals, to upgrade electrical power available to be able to convert stove/oven and clothes dryer to electric. (Possibly to not use clothes dryer exists.) I also need to remove the two double taps.

How to:
I've come up with the following options;
1. Go off grid now, using the money needed to upgrade the service to 150 or 200amps to help offset the cost.
2. Do a dual system where I use partial grid power (the current 100A service) and the upgrades I need will be provided by solar and wind power with a battery bank. Then in the future, expand my system to be off grid.

I would like suggestions on how to do number 2. I don't know how to use two power systems. I guess the real problem lies in trying to figure out how to have 150-200amp service using two systems, where one will never provide the full potential needs of the house.

Looking for help.....

Mr. Diedel

As I'm currently living in Taiwan, I can attest that the old fashioned Chinese farmers do indeed use their urine to grow crops. My neighbor has been using this method, I will have to ask him if he uses it right away or lets it sit. Though I suspect he's letting it sit outside in a 55 gallon drum along with his food scraps and fermenting it before use. Sometimes I've smelt it... However he seems to add water through the use of rain.
I have a few gallons of bottled urine that is getting close to 10 months old, I hope to extract some potassium nitrate, or saltpeter through a filtering and drying process used to make gun powder.

Good to have more information Eric. The second document has been helpful. It appears that the hotter it is, the less likely it will be harmful. Since everyone in my household is healthy,

This is my plan of action...

1. Store urine for 1 month over 20 degrees Centigrade. (as storage and temperature does not present a problem for me)

2. Apply urine with a watering can and diluted 10 parts water to 1 part urine. , not aerosol style. Not sprayed in the air.

3. Not applied to root vegetables. (for now)

4. Stop application 1 month prior to harvesting any crops. (I'll use normal food waste compost during this time period)

Thanks for your help everyone.

Nick, thanks for your input. I'll take that into consideration. Perhaps I'll try both ways and see which one seems to be the best for me and my situation. I guess I still need to know about the temperature of the urine in storage, that is, if over 20 degrees Centigrade will harm it, help it or have no effect.

To Arlone Wonderlin Folkers,

http://www.sswm.info/category/implementation-tools/wastewater-treatment/hardware/processes/urine-storage
This is the main place where I've found detailed information regarding my concerns. I was introduced to the idea from another website, but I cannot recall where.

Read the first paragraph, and then you can scroll down to find a chart of fresh versus stored urine for the actual nutrient content as well. Scrolling down even further reveals yet another chart that helps you to see the length of storage and the safety of the urine.

I do not know the reliability of the information contained in the site, but it is presented in a way that makes me feel they are trustworthy. Let me know if you find out anything about the temperature of storage over 20 degrees Centigrade. Thanks.

Yes, urine is sterile when it first exits the body, however microbes enter the urine and thus we get the smell and urine is no longer sterile. Plus, pathogens can be taken up by the plants you fertilize. It's my understanding that if you use urine directly, (uncomposted/unfermented) then you need to wait about 1 month before harvesting any crop for raw consumption. The exception seems to be that if only your household will consume the products, then they have been exposed to those pathogens before and will not suffer any ill effects. Non-the-less. I'd prefer to kill all the bad stuff and not eat raw crops fertilized with urine. It's safest to cook the crops. Unfortunately, my question remains.

Can you store urine in sealed milk jugs for 6 months over 20 degrees Centigrade and still have proper fermentation to kill viruses and pathogens?

I've been researching information about how to properly store urine for safe use as fertilizer. I've come to the conclusion that I will be satisfied storing the urine in sealed milk jugs for 6 months at 4-20 degrees Centigrade, or 39 - 68F.

QUESTION:
Will urine stored in a sealed plastic whitish/translucent milk jug become sterilized after 6 months if the temperature reaches 37 degrees Centigrade, or 100F? The temperature will remain between 30-38C for the majority of the storage during the summer months here. Does it need to be kept from direct sunlight during that time? What about indirect sunlight?