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urine is sterile, but ... | (Read 266 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1331
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May 27, 2008, 05:53:20 PM |
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I seem to remember hearing something once that contradicted the whole thing about urine being sterile. Something about once it ages a bit, problems arise.
Anybody know anything about that?
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david c
Posts: 27
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May 27, 2008, 09:40:12 PM |
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I think the issue is that once it is out of the body it becomes infected with all sorts of bacteria from the environment, and it happens very quickly.
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kelda
Posts: 263
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May 27, 2008, 10:18:13 PM |
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I'm not sure if bad bacteria would accumulate with 'aging' urine, but I seem to remember an interesting factoid about dying leather white with aged urine and the ammonia it turns into. I don't think much bacteria could survive in ammonia?
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1331
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May 27, 2008, 10:19:12 PM |
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Wouldn't the ammonia kill off damn near anything?
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Jeremy_IL
Posts: 53
Workin' Central IL converted farmland
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May 28, 2008, 08:58:01 AM |
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Yeah, it's much like anything sterile. It's sterile until you open it, or expose it to a non-sterile environment!
Urine makes a nice breeding ground for "stuff," having some nice stuff for bacteria to eat (hence it's "green-ness" for the compost pile).
I don't know what populates it though...
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Ben Souther
Posts: 27
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May 29, 2008, 05:11:28 PM |
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My daughter tells me, she learned in Latin class, that the Romans used to keep around until it turned into ammonia and then use it for toothpaste.
Yummy!
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Marilyn Queiroz
Administrator
Posts: 59
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June 01, 2008, 12:14:55 PM |
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Urine is normally sterile while it is still in the human body (except when you get a urinary tract infection -- a UTI). However, it is a very good media for bacteria, so once it leaves the body, bacteria thrive on it. This is why, if you don't flush after you pee, the water begins to turn cloudy and smell pretty rank after a couple of days (even without fecal matter). After you flush, most likely you'll see a ring of slippery "scum" left on the toilet bowl ... frequently a pink one. I'm not talking about white mineral rings left by hard water or well water iron-colored mineral rings.
Urine contains waste products from the body like creatinine, urea (a source of Nitrogen), uric acid, and other minerals (like Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus) which are soluble in water as salts. Normally there is minimal Protein and/or Glucose. Bacteria from the environment love these nutrients.
Typical bacteria which may invade the urinary tract are Escherechia coli, Pseudomonas species, and Klebsiella species, and Bacillus species. Staph and Strep may also show up, although UTIs with these bacteria are less common. All of these are common in the environment. You very probably have some of each of them on your skin right now (when was the last time you washed your hands?).
The chemical formula for Ammonia is NH3 ... the 'N' stands for Nitrogen. The bacteria change the Nitrogen salts to ammonia. The urine pH changes from neutral to alkaline. Other bacteria oxidize the ammonia. Some bacteria like cold, some prefer hot temperatures; some prefer acid environments, others prefer alkaline environments.
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kelda
Posts: 263
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September 07, 2008, 09:37:30 PM |
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Back to the whole aging thing 
It probably doesn't work that way in a compost pile though, where its immediately absorbed by carbon and worked over by all sorts of other good bacteria. Once again why I like to pee on the compost. I can't imagine it does anything but good things there.
(well, if this was the desert, I guess it could be adding salt. no worries about that in the pnw though!)
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permaculture.dave
Posts: 113
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September 17, 2008, 03:57:32 PM |
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John Valenzuela has mentioned really good things about this book, but I haven't had a chance to purchase it yet.
http://www.liquidgoldbook.com/
It is all about using urine as part of your fertilizer regime.
Dave
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1331
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October 03, 2008, 04:23:21 PM |
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A bale of straw can be good too.
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SueinWA
Posts: 303
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October 08, 2008, 02:25:01 PM |
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Nothing is sterile forever. Actually, not even for very long.
What is important is to remember that spontaneous generation doesn't exist. If you pee into a bucket of sawdust, then dump the contents into the center of an active compost pile, you're not going to suddenly have E. coli O157:H7, anthrax or bubonic plague suddenly pop up in the compost. It has to physically BE there before it can grow.
Sue
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