Bill Gates drinks processed toilet water in a viral video released Monday to promote a new machine that turns human waste into water and electricity.
Wired magazine reported that Gates hopes to bring the OmniProcessor, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and designed by Washington's Janicki Bioenergy, to developing countries in Africa and south Asia.
Altogether, the processor is a combination of three things: a steam power plant, incinerator, and water filtration system.
"A steam engine generates heat for a dryer, which accepts the raw sewage and dries it out. Then the sludge is boiled, and this separates the solids from the water. The incinerator then burns the dried-out solids, producing a high-temperature, high-pressure steam that helps drive the steam engine and, through a generator, makes electricity that can power the OmniProcessor. And the process repeats," Wired writes.
Each OmniProcessor costs roughly $1.5 million, and can convert up to 14 tons of sewage into water and electricity each day — enough to support a community of 100,000.
For local governments and philanthropic entrepreneurs, running an OmniProcessor is profitable, as they can earn money for taking in raw sewage, as well as earn money by selling the water and electricity produced from it. The only byproduct beyond the water and electricity is ash, which can be used as fertilizer.
"If you can get thousands of these things out there, then you've ensured the people really will grow up in a healthy way," Gates said at the demonstration. "They'll live much higher quality lives. You will save a lot of lives. And you’ll have local entrepreneurs who are maintaining these things."
Gates and the Janicki team will travel to Dakar, Senegal, next month to build and test the first OmniProcessor in the field.
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