4 ms·

I should be more careful. I've been pissing this stuff away my entire life!

by spamizbad 5y ago

colechristensen 5y ago
Prices and taxes on urine were occasionally huge political issues in Ancient Rome.
- benjamir 5y ago
  Maybe reintroducing a free modern amphora equivalent instead of making people pay and forcing them to waste it in a toilet could help?
  - cogburnd02 5y ago
    Interestingly, elemental phosphorus was originally isolated from urine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Discovery which is funny considering that economists and such are worried that mining phosphorus rock might have a limit soon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus
- vondur 5y ago
  "Money Doesn't Stink"
- jihadjihad 5y ago
  For anyone curious why this was the case, it's due to a step in wool textile production called "fulling" [0]. Stale human urine was used for the ammonium, which cleaned away dirt and oil from the cloth and made it thicker (fuller). One of the more entertaining episodes in Don Quijote is when he and Sancho are confused by the persistent loud noise made by the hammers in a fulling mill. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling
  - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
    Adding to this fun fact, they used urine because fulling societies hadn't yet invented soap. Cicero's family were fullers. Caesar, Cleopatra and Socrates lived in civilizations lacking soap!
    - agumonkey 5y ago
      Due to economics ? I thought Alep soap predated Cicero by a while.
      - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
        It's unclear, though earliest even-dubious claims of its use go back only as far as Cleopatra, Cicero's contemporary [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap
HarryHirsch 5y ago
Grab a copy of William Hinton's Fanshen if you have a chance. The family latrine was serious business in his village.
taneq 5y ago
When I first heard about the AdBlue shortage my response was "Time to reinstate the barrels outside the pubs for Monarch and Country!
elric 5y ago
And sweating, presumably. I wonder whether urea is recovered from waste water at water treatment plants.

I should be more careful. I've been pissing this stuff away my entire life!

colechristensen 5y ago

Prices and taxes on urine were occasionally huge political issues in Ancient Rome.

benjamir 5y ago
Maybe reintroducing a free modern amphora equivalent instead of making people pay and forcing them to waste it in a toilet could help?
- cogburnd02 5y ago
  Interestingly, elemental phosphorus was originally isolated from urine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Discovery which is funny considering that economists and such are worried that mining phosphorus rock might have a limit soon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus
vondur 5y ago
"Money Doesn't Stink"
jihadjihad 5y ago
For anyone curious why this was the case, it's due to a step in wool textile production called "fulling" [0]. Stale human urine was used for the ammonium, which cleaned away dirt and oil from the cloth and made it thicker (fuller). One of the more entertaining episodes in Don Quijote is when he and Sancho are confused by the persistent loud noise made by the hammers in a fulling mill. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  Adding to this fun fact, they used urine because fulling societies hadn't yet invented soap. Cicero's family were fullers. Caesar, Cleopatra and Socrates lived in civilizations lacking soap!
  - agumonkey 5y ago
    Due to economics ? I thought Alep soap predated Cicero by a while.
    - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
      It's unclear, though earliest even-dubious claims of its use go back only as far as Cleopatra, Cicero's contemporary [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap

HarryHirsch 5y ago

Grab a copy of William Hinton's Fanshen if you have a chance. The family latrine was serious business in his village.

taneq 5y ago

When I first heard about the AdBlue shortage my response was "Time to reinstate the barrels outside the pubs for Monarch and Country!

elric 5y ago

And sweating, presumably. I wonder whether urea is recovered from waste water at water treatment plants.