Bill Gates says a new testing facility that turns human waste into clean drinking water has the potential to save lives.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s latest project is the “Omniprocessor” — a machine built by Janicki Bioenergy that transforms human waste into clean water and electricity.
“Diseases caused by poor sanitation kill some 700,000 children every year, and they prevent many more from fully developing mentally and physically,” Mr. Gates wrote in his blog. “If we can develop safe, affordable ways to get rid of human waste, we can prevent many of those deaths and help more children grow up healthy.”
The way it works is the machine extracts water from the sewage that’s piped in or delivered to the facility. The dry sewage is then incinerated to generate electricity needed to extract the water, CNN reported.
In a video on his blog, Mr. Gates even takes a sip of the waste-turned-water to prove its safety.
A test plant is up and working at Janicki’s headquarters north of Seattle. The first operational plant is planned for Senegal, CNN reported.
“The next-generation processor, more advanced than the one I saw, will handle waste from 100,000 people, producing up to 86,000 liters of potable water a day and a net 250 kw of electricity,” Mr. Gates wrote. “If we get it right, it will be a good example of how philanthropy can provide seed money that draws bright people to work on big problems, eventually creating a self-supporting industry.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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