I’LL GIVE YOU MONEY FOR YOUR PEE! (October 2024)
I’LL GIVE YOU MONEY FOR YOUR PEE!
What’s the problem? You don’t want it anyway. You could make a lot of money considering the average person produces around 34,000 litres in their lifetime. Why on earth would I want your urine?
This liquid, which we are all too familiar with, is a by-product of a very natural process for all animals. After the body has taken the components it needs from our food and drink, unwanted by-products are left behind in the bowel and blood. Our blood is cleaned by our kidneys, which eliminate the ‘unwanted stuff’ called urea, and also help keep chemicals such as potassium and sodium in balance.

If you are a lady, generally, you can store up to 500 mL, and a man can store 700 mL. Once our ‘tanks’ are full, we get that ‘urge’ and off we go to the loo! We then flush and pay no further thought. But maybe we should? Just maybe, pee is liquid gold? Before I explain why this liquid is so valuable, let me quickly offer some interesting information on wee.
First of all, our urine is about 95% water. That’s correct, just water. The other 5% includes unwanted nitrogenous compounds, creatinine, uric acid, ions, salts, organic compounds, other nitrogenous substances, hormones, vitamins, and depending on whose pee it is, you might find toxins or drugs! Within the ‘nitrogenous substances’ ammonia can form. Ammonia is very handy for all sorts of things, including gunpowder! Many years ago, back in ancient Rome, urine was used as a tooth whitener because ammonia functioned as a bleaching agent! It is also used in industrial refrigeration, pharmaceuticals, and people have even used it as an animal deterrent! (My research said it works very well for cats, foxes, and rabbits. I don’t advise dabbing it on yourself, but rather distributing it in the garden please.)
Over the years, and because of its abundance, people have applied it to all sorts of problems, including home remedies for asthma, arthritis, allergies, and even infertility. I just want to add a disclaimer that ‘science’ overwhelmingly believes that urine is not safe to consume in any substantial amounts.
One very ‘a-pee-ling’ use for the stuff in our urine is to create fertilizer. Now, you might not think fertilizer is important, or even scarce, but it is very much so because we need to grow so much food to sustain our numbers.
It is interesting then to know that human urine is one of the best available resources for the primary macronutrients needed for fertilizer: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Our pee contains between 10–12 g/L nitrogen, and between 0.1–0.5 g/L phosphorus, and between 1.0–2.0 g/L potassium. In spite of this, and the fact that we already have the technologies available to make use of this resource, we still flush it away!
So how much is our pee really worth and how much can we make? Let’s pretend you work at a company with 100 employees in South Africa. A scenario: Converted urine fertilizer could maybe sell for approximately R2 to R20 per litre, depending on quality and market demand. Daily Revenue: This translates to potential revenue of R200 to R2,000 per day. Annual Revenue: this could amount to roughly R73,000 on the lower end and R730,000 on the higher end of my scenario per year. This is of course a very simplified estimate and probably not mathematically or scientifically accurate, but let’s remember there are about 8 billion people in the world, so we are looking in the potential region of trillions of Rands, well over 58.4 trillion if we use my scenario above.
Another interesting thing to think about is the average person might flush approximately 1,868,000 liters of water ‘away’ in their lifetime. In South Africa, the average drinking water per litre costs about R0.75 to ‘produce’ / get to our taps, which is about R1,401,600 in potential savings in a lifetime. Again, this estimate is not mathematically spot on, but you get the idea, right?
With this sort of prospective money going down the drain or not being reused, and the absolutely unnecessary carbon footprint burden on the environment caused by preparing water for us to consume, or to process our waste, you can imagine how excited I was when I learned of an amazing project right here in South Africa with the potential to solve these issues. The project is spearheaded by a new friend of mine called Prof. Dyllon Randall. You can read more about him here: https://ebe.uct.ac.za/department-civil-engineering/aprof-dyllon-randall

Dyllon and I got to talk about his project (at the Future Water Institute) while taking a walk on a mountainside forest in Cape Town. It was on this path that I learned about how his team is developing fertilizer and bio-bricks by recycling urine.
The Future Water Institute started in February 2017 and is based at the University of Cape Town. Their research group has developed a fertilizer-producing urinal that creates about 11.2 g of solid fertilizer per litre of urine. Their bio-brick is made from what is left, added with some aggregate and bacteria. Dyllon’s team want to develop a urinal that can be integrated into mainstream society. I have added a link below that includes a short video and other interesting nuggets about the work being done.
As always, the reason I am sharing this news is to inspire people to think differently about the way we live, work, and play. The practical, financial, and environmental benefits of the solutions Dyllon and his team are working on are obvious. As with any innovation, it requires society to buy into the concept and have the will to change. Let me end this article with the following two points to ponder:
- Can you change your mindset to see human urine as a valuable resource?
- Can you see the potential the shift to a circular economy has: to create employment, uplift communities, reduce environmental impact, and potentially even save or earn money?
(Pee S: just for clarity, I am not really offering money for pee, but at least now you know its potential! Let’s be good pee-ople)
The END.
WANT TO READ MORE ARTICLES?
But wait, there is MORE!

Who is Jean-Pierre Murray-Kline?
Jean-Pierre is a South African serial e-entrepreneur, published author, and change champion who has worked in over 300 types of industries in some capacity or another. His own online businesses have generated millions of Rands and involved sectors such as law, web & app development, events & entertainment, property, technical services, media, and tourism.
He has traveled to over 80 cities worldwide and is extremely active as a business and environmental technologist. In addition to his own projects, he researches and consults on all things online: marketing, reputation, compliance, law, and e-security, and also offers strategy workshops and scenario sessions on future thinking with a key focus on technology, the environment, and global influences.
Jean-Pierre is often asked to be a guest speaker on a variety of subjects he continuously studies and writes about.

Is anyone reading this? I just started. Opinions? pic.twitter.com/sTBAanodod
— Jean-Pierre Murray-Kline (@PierreMurray) November 8, 2023

Disclaimer:
- While I attempt to ensure information is accurate and up-to-date at time of publication, I will not accept liability should information be used, and found to be incorrect. If you do see an error, please let me know.
- The links, images, videos and/ or text from this article are not necessarily under my direct management, ownership or care. Should you be the owner or manager of any content herein, and wish for the content to be removed, please let me know and it will be done.