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I tend to agree, but I (and maybe you) live in the Great Lakes region where water is abundant and cheap. Optimizing water use just doesn't seem worth it. But I

I tend to agree, but I (and maybe you) live in the Great Lakes region where water is abundant and cheap. Optimizing water use just doesn't seem worth it. But I can totally see this coating helping in regions like India, who have a real problem with open-air defecation.

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newen 7y ago
...so to solve that, you would put this stuff on the ground so that shit slips easily into the nearest river?
- HorizonXP 7y ago
  I think you're deliberately misrepresenting what I meant. The current PM of India campaigned on a "Clean India" effort to tackle open-air defecation by building millions of toilets. Now, you can argue the efficacy of this effort, but arguably, the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water, which requires infrastructure. All I meant is that efforts to minimize the amount of water required (i.e. the coating in the article) could be helpful here. Another place where this can be helpful is in areas that aren't covered by sewage infrastructures, like houses that are on septic tanks, or campgrounds/parks with outhouses. I'm not an expert on this matter, I'm just suggesting that I can see how it might be helpful.
  - hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
    > the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water The vast, vast majority of these toilets are basically just holes in the ground. They do not flush.
    - HorizonXP 7y ago
      Exactly. In our village, it was a latrine. We were lucky enough to have ceramic ones. When I first encountered this as a 4 year old, I was so disgusted with the idea of squatting over a latrine that my parents had to have a Western toilet installed in our house in the village. When I returned at 10 years old, I was more amenable to the idea. Every time you had to go, you had to fill a bucket of water from the well, and carry it with you to the outhouse. Then you’d squat over the latrine, do your deed, and then use a cup (a lota) to pour water over your backside, using the other hand to help rinse. Heaven forbid you had to do all of this at night. When I got back to Canada, it was the toilet that I missed the most. Now, I appreciate the sheer convenience and modern marvel that is modern plumbing and sewage.
  - adrianN 7y ago
    Composting toilets seem much better suited for locations with scarce water, or scarce water infrastructure.
gpm 7y ago
I do live near the great lakes, but my comment about not worth optimizing is really just that as a percentage of global water usage toilets are tiny (compared to agricultural and industrial. Agricultural is 80-90% in the states for instance). Optimization only really makes much sense where locally that is false. There are definitely plenty of deserts in the world though, so it's not much of a nitpick.
- ac29 7y ago
  > Agricultural is 80-90% in the states for instance Actually, irrigation uses less than 40% of water in the US. The largest use is thermoelectric power generation. [0] [0] https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2018/3035/fs20183035.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2018/3035/fs20183035.pdf
  - kortilla 7y ago
    Interesting. It’s not like water used for thermoelectric cooling becomes compromised. In many cases don’t they just return it directly to the supply after it cools down?
  - hvidgaard 7y ago
    The majority of that water is surface water - that is only used for consumption if there is no suitable groundwater reservoir, and it is returned. So the environmental impact is less that irrigation as that removes the water from the source.

deleted 7y ago

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newen 7y ago

...so to solve that, you would put this stuff on the ground so that shit slips easily into the nearest river?

HorizonXP 7y ago
I think you're deliberately misrepresenting what I meant. The current PM of India campaigned on a "Clean India" effort to tackle open-air defecation by building millions of toilets. Now, you can argue the efficacy of this effort, but arguably, the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water, which requires infrastructure. All I meant is that efforts to minimize the amount of water required (i.e. the coating in the article) could be helpful here. Another place where this can be helpful is in areas that aren't covered by sewage infrastructures, like houses that are on septic tanks, or campgrounds/parks with outhouses. I'm not an expert on this matter, I'm just suggesting that I can see how it might be helpful.
- hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
  > the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water The vast, vast majority of these toilets are basically just holes in the ground. They do not flush.
  - HorizonXP 7y ago
    Exactly. In our village, it was a latrine. We were lucky enough to have ceramic ones. When I first encountered this as a 4 year old, I was so disgusted with the idea of squatting over a latrine that my parents had to have a Western toilet installed in our house in the village. When I returned at 10 years old, I was more amenable to the idea. Every time you had to go, you had to fill a bucket of water from the well, and carry it with you to the outhouse. Then you’d squat over the latrine, do your deed, and then use a cup (a lota) to pour water over your backside, using the other hand to help rinse. Heaven forbid you had to do all of this at night. When I got back to Canada, it was the toilet that I missed the most. Now, I appreciate the sheer convenience and modern marvel that is modern plumbing and sewage.
- adrianN 7y ago
  Composting toilets seem much better suited for locations with scarce water, or scarce water infrastructure.

gpm 7y ago

I do live near the great lakes, but my comment about not worth optimizing is really just that as a percentage of global water usage toilets are tiny (compared to agricultural and industrial. Agricultural is 80-90% in the states for instance). Optimization only really makes much sense where locally that is false. There are definitely plenty of deserts in the world though, so it's not much of a nitpick.

ac29 7y ago
> Agricultural is 80-90% in the states for instance Actually, irrigation uses less than 40% of water in the US. The largest use is thermoelectric power generation. [0] [0] https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2018/3035/fs20183035.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2018/3035/fs20183035.pdf
- kortilla 7y ago
  Interesting. It’s not like water used for thermoelectric cooling becomes compromised. In many cases don’t they just return it directly to the supply after it cools down?
- hvidgaard 7y ago
  The majority of that water is surface water - that is only used for consumption if there is no suitable groundwater reservoir, and it is returned. So the environmental impact is less that irrigation as that removes the water from the source.