Two organizations in Vermont are testing a new approach to wastewater management: diverting urine from septic systems, then sanitizing it for use as a nutrient-rich fertilizer.
The Rich Earth Institute is collaborating with the Windham Regional Commission to conduct the feasibility study. So far, nearly three dozen households in areas of the village of Westminster and the town of Dummerston have expressed interest in using urine-diverting or composting toilets. The special toilets divert urine to collection tanks instead of to septic systems, says Kim Nace, executive director of the Rich Earth Institute, a nonprofit group that researches ways to use human
