Blue Diversion Autarky

Since 2017, Eawag has participated with the Blue Diversion Autarky II project in the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This project was dedicated to developing new technological solutions for the on-site treatment of human waste with a focus on recovering resources, such as water and fertiliser. In particular, a modular system based on the separation and treatment of the waste streams urine, water and faeces at the source promised to be a viable alternative to centralised wastewater treatment systems. At the end of June, the research project was concluded with a final workshop for all collaborators, including the board of commercial partners at Eawag.

During the two-day workshop, the past work was recapitulated, existing technology transfer barriers were identified and future research-industry collaborations were initiated to foster an industrial realisation of the different treatment modules. Currently, these modules follow different industrialisation pathways: the water treatment module (i.e. Water Wall) was subject to the longest development period, having been started in the previous “Blue Diversion” project in 2011. This module has been picked up by the industrial partner BFG International, which has been testing the Water Wall for two years now with the goal of its industrialisation. A prominent barrier identified at the workshop was the different perspectives of research and industry regarding the optimal timing of the technology transfer. For instance, at Eawag the focus lies on the process development, while product development is not considered part of its core business. From an industry perspective, however, more product development, i.e. more detailed engineering, is demanded for prototype manufacturing. To bridge this gap, another industrialisation pathway was chosen for the urine treatment technology. This technology will soon be adopted by a new spin-off company, which will push process, product and market development in parallel rather than in consecutive order.

The workshop concluded that there is a momentum for these modular and resource-oriented technologies as water scarcity is now even recognised in the most privileged countries, such as Switzerland. Additionally, the security of the fertiliser supply  in Switzerland gets increasing attention due to impending import stops from countries at war or production decreases due to energy shortages. As one member of our Board of commercial partners put it: “I am in regular contact with people from the Ministry of Agriculture, life stock and food supply in Brazil. They are asking me for technical solutions for fertiliser recovery from the human waste collected in our toilets”.

Eawag will remain a scientific advisor for the technologies during the industrialisation process. While the Water Wall will hopefully enter the market soon, we are currently seeking partners for the Urine Treatment Spin-off. Do you have interesting contacts? Please get in touch with us: Michel Riechmann: michel.riechmann@eawag.ch & Kai Udert: kai.udert@eawag.ch