The Alternative

The Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center (MASSTC) is a Program of the

Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment

The Value of "Waste"

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” -R. Buckminster Fuller

As MASSTC continues to work with the Town of Falmouth to design a project to test and study the nutrient management benefits of urine diversion, we continue to hear more exciting urine related news from around the world.

Check out this article about how pee can be used to make recycling of electric vehicle batteries more efficient. You read that right. This is yet another example of how the elements in our wastewater are not actually waste, but instead critically valuable resources that need to be recycled and reused.

The renowned thinker and architect R. Buckminster Fuller said it best, “Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” Here at MASSTC we are keenly aware of the problems with conventional wastewater management strategies which is why we work every day to learn, test and search for new ways to improve our relationship with water.

To test and promote these strategies, MASSTC has begun the process of retrofitting existing

bathrooms and planning for a new office and training building that will showcase a selection of ecological sanitation systems including composting and urine diverting toilet systems, innovative greywater gardens, food scrap composting and rainwater harvesting. Come visit us and share in the excitement of protecting valuable resources and stopping pollution at the source!

If you have questions or comments regarding circular nutrient management strategies and

ecological sanitation systems, contact our Environmental Project Assistant Bryan Horsley at

bryan.horsley@capecod.gov.

For general contact information, reach out to us here.

Top and cross-section view of typical toilet user interfaces, showing the place of urine and stool through arrows pointing downward: (a) Dry toilet latrine. The fly screen shown is used to keep insects, dirt, leaves, and debris away from the composting chamber. (b) Waterless urine-diverter toilet with a separate chamber for urine collection. (c) Flush toilet–bidet with a combination of micro flush technologies and a water jet cleansing system.

MASSTC On NPR's The Point

Thanks to Mindy Todd and WCAI for having us on The Point this week!

MASSTC Director Brian Baumgaertel and Environmental Project Assistant Bryan Horsley addressed the excessive nitrogen from wastewater that has significantly degraded our coastal embayments, estuaries, and ponds.

From The Point's website: "One of the reasons many communities have been slow to reduce nitrogen pollution are the steep costs of sewering and alternative septic systems. Once on the fringe, urine diversion and eco toilets are seeing renewed interest because of their low costs.

Does the state allow for the adoption of urine diversion toilets as a method to reduce nitrogen? If not, why? And if urine diversion toilets become part of the wastewater solution, what do we do with all the urine?"

Hear what we had to say.

See You Saturday At The Cape Cod Natural History Conference!

The 2024 Mass Audubon Cape Cod Natural History Conference is on Saturday, March 9th, 8:30am-3:30pm at the Tilden Arts Center, Cape Cod Community College. This conference will feature a series of presentations from area researchers from environmental organizations across Cape Cod, speaking on a diversity of timely natural history topics.

MASSTC Environmental Project Assistant Bryan Horsley will be a featured speaker on what else? Urine diversion! Is Pee the Key to Cleaning Up the Cape's Water Quality Problems?

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