ABSTRACT
More than a half of the nutrient load of the domestic wastewater streams is caused by urine, that representing only 1% of the total volume of the stream, contains 40% of phosphorus, 69% nitrogen and 60% of potassium of it. The objective of this study is to performance a review of process of urine valorization for the recovery of these macronutrients. The potential ways for the management of the human urine can be divided into two large groups: the use of urine as fertilizer and the recovery of nutrients cultivating microalgae. The urine to the plants for its direct recovery can be carried out by using different technologies. The growth of different microalgae (in real and synthetic urine) has been studied aiming for different products with interesting results. At the highest level of technology, it is possible to use the urine as fuel to feed Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC’s).
