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SUPERFERTIL: A Story About a Canister

Urinoirs SUPERFERTIL Homme et Femme mobiles dans une salle de bain

Two new products are joining the EKOVORE catalog: SUPERFERTIL FEMME and SUPERFERTIL HOMME—two waterless urinals designed to collect urine directly into a container.

Genesis: a piece was missing from the system.

Last May, we launched SUPERFERTIL voluntary drop-off points—street furniture designed to collect a fertilizer we produce daily: urine.

The goal was to enable individuals to drop off their urine so that it could be collected and utilized as agricultural fertilizer.

For this collection process to work, one essential component was missing: a vessel capable of collecting the urine, storing it temporarily, and—above all—enabling its transport to the drop-off point.

The solution takes a very simple form: a urinal screwed onto a container that detaches once full, making it easy to transport.

That is how SUPERFERTIL urinals were born.

All in all… a handy little item for everyday use!

Once these new objects were before our eyes, something became obvious.

Why would their usefulness necessarily depend on a voluntary drop-off point?

Thanks to their compact design, SUPERFERTIL urinals fit easily into existing restrooms or any other room in the house, offering practical, self-contained use. They collect urine at the source, requiring neither a flush nor a connection to the drainage system.

The principle is simple: instead of mixing urine with several liters of drinking water to flush it away with wastewater, it is collected separately in a container.

No potable water used to flush away urine, and nutrients recovered rather than mixed with wastewater.

The benefits don’t stop at saving water!

Urine naturally contains nutrients, notably nitrogen and phosphorus, that are beneficial for plant growth.

Once collected, they can therefore be considered a fertilizing resource rather than merely an effluent to be disposed of.

For use in the garden, the collected urine can be diluted with ten volumes of water before watering.

Two urinals, two positions

SUPERFERTIL WOMEN

SUPERFERTIL FEMME features an inclined polypropylene collection tray. It collects urine and directs it into the container.

Its 360° rotation allows it to be positioned out of the way of the feet, making it easier to squat. After use, it can also be moved to a storage position.

SUPERFERTIL FOR MEN

SUPESUPERFERTIL HOMME features a vertical polypropylene receptacle designed for use in a standing position.

The receiver can also be rotated 360°, allowing its position to be adapted to the available space and the intended use.

In both cases, the urinal is directly connected to a container intended for urine collection.

And the smells?

Collecting urine separately obviously requires being able to store it without generating odors.

SUPERFERTIL combines three complementary devices to ensure comfortable daily use:

  • a dry trap with elastomeric flaps, which creates a barrier between the canister and the urinal;
  • prior acidification of the urine, using approximately 4 g of household citric acid per litre of urine at the start of filling the container;
  • regularly spraying the shower tray with white vinegar after use.

This combination eliminates odors under normal conditions of use.

Design less, but design right.

This approach reflects an idea we hold dear at Ekovore: designing simple objects that meet a concrete need while optimizing the amount of material required for their manufacture.

A urinal paired with a container is enough to transform the purpose of a liquid we usually regard as waste.

Discover SUPERFERTIL urinals here!
SUPERFERTIL for women & SUPERFERTIL for men

Design of SUPERFERTIL urinals: FALTAZI Studio

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GLOOP: collecting cold water before a shower

GLOOP récupère l’eau froide d’un pommeau de douche de 110 mm dans un bidon de 16 litres

Every summer, the same reality asserts itself: our water resources are coming under increasing strain.

Droughts, usage restrictions, groundwater level monitoring… Recent years have shown just how precious and fragile water is. These events also prompt us to take a fresh look at our daily habits.

At home, we sometimes use drinking water without actually needing to. This is particularly the case when taking a shower: several liters can run before the water reaches the desired temperature.

GLOOP offers a solution to this waste with a shower cold-water collector. The accessory allows this water to be collected before it goes down the drain.

Why collect the cold shower water?

Before taking a shower, 4 to 7 liters of water can flow out before the water reaches the right temperature.

This water is clean, yet we generally send it straight down the drain. However, it can still be used for many household purposes.

Rather than seeking to eliminate this wait time with increasingly sophisticated solutions, GLOOP opts for a simpler approach: capturing the water that is already flowing.

How does the GLOOP shower cold water recovery system work?

It works simply. You just place the showerhead into GLOOP. The accessory then directs the cold water into a collection container. Once the water reaches the right temperature, simply remove the showerhead and take your shower.

You can then use the collected water to water plants, clean floors, flush toilets, or for other uses suitable for non-potable water.

No plumbing modifications required. No pump. No tank to install.

GLOOP sticks to the essentials: a small accessory that captures water that would otherwise have gone down the drain.

Lightweight design to meet the essentials

We sought a lightweight solution, using minimal material and requiring no special installation.

This approach addresses a specific moment in daily life without adding a complex system to the shower.

An accessory designed not to put strain on the hose.

GLOOP features a 360° rotating turret. This allows you to position the shower head in the holder without forcing the hose into a specific curve.

GLOOP is available for 100 mm and 110 mm spouts and screws onto a collection container.

Once the container is full, you can easily reuse the water for various non-potable purposes.

Reuse water instead of letting it go to waste.

Waste less drinking water. Reuse it better. Make better use of it.

Periods of drought make this issue particularly urgent. However, water conservation should not become a concern only when restrictions are imposed.

Shortages make the urgency visible for a few weeks each year. It is up to us to derive solutions from them that can be integrated into our daily routines all year round.

GLOOP, a solution for saving water in daily life

GLOOP is available online at EKOVORE.

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SUPERFERTIL: a voluntary urine collection point to fertilise our fields

Citadin déposant ses urines dans une borne SUPERFERTIL avec deux bidons de 5 litres en ville

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has now laid bare one of the most overlooked vulnerabilities in our food system. A third of the world’s nitrogen fertilisers pass through this 34-kilometre-long corridor. Yet a solution could be found right here in our cities: human urine, rich in nutrients, is a natural fertiliser produced daily, free of charge, by each and every one of us.

Urine: a natural fertiliser that can be collected in urban areas

Human urine contains nitrogen and phosphorus in forms that plants can absorb directly – the same essential nutrients found in synthetic fertilisers imported from the Persian Gulf. When stored for a few months, it turns into liquid manure, a natural agricultural fertiliser that is ready for use.

The OCAPI action research programme run by LEESU (École des Ponts ParisTech) has demonstrated this in practice through the EnVille project. Since late 2023 in Châtillon (92), around twenty residents have been dropping off their urine every week at a collection point within their AMAP. The urine collected is then returned to the fields in the form of liquid manure. The nutrient cycle is closed.

The experiment works. The question now is how to scale it up.

SUPERFERTIL: a voluntary urine collection point for the metropolitan area

This is the ambition that Ekovore wishes to pursue by offering SUPERFERTIL, a urine collection station designed to be deployed on a territorial scale.

Designed by the Faltazi studio, SUPERFERTIL is installed in public spaces as a voluntary drop-off point, similar to the bio-waste containers already present in our streets. Residents deposit their urine collected at home there, in a simple and accessible way for everyone.

The objective: to build local agricultural valorization channels for urine on a metropolitan scale, relying on existing collection logistics of septic tank emptying companies and on specialized service providers to transport the collected volumes to partner farms.

From the waterless urinal to the voluntary drop-off point

SUPERFERTIL is part of a broader initiative led by Ekovore focused on the ecological management of urine in urban environments. Our waterless, eco-friendly urinals already allow for urine collection at the source in public spaces, without water consumption. SUPERFERTIL complements this approach by offering citizen-led collection and application to fields.

Two pieces of equipment, one same logic: no longer treat urine as waste, but as a resource.

Produce locally what we import from the other side of the world

The nitrogen fertilizer we currently import from the Persian Gulf can be produced locally, organically, and collectively. SUPERFERTIL is not just an urban amenity; it’s a proposal for food sovereignty at the neighborhood level.

So? Shall we fill the jerrycans?

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L’URITONNOIR | Clever urinal

Uritonnoirs installés aux USA avec pare-vues et sous une tente

URINE is a captivating subject!
When the uritonnoir was launched, we had a great article in the GUARDIAN.
“L’Uritonnoir: the straw bale urinal that makes compost from ‘liquid gold'”.

Let’s support it as best we can by carefully preparing two essential aids to understanding it:

💪 an assembly guide | just a reminder: the object is shipped flat-packed and requires two parts to be assembled once delivered. Tutorial available online!

💪 an instruction manual to help you understand the message conveyed by this new, somewhat exotic tool: combining straw+urine (carbon+nitrogen) to generate manure (human dung). It should be pointed out that it is made from UV- and FROST-resistant material and can therefore be kept outdoors. It is also washable and can be stacked for easy storage.

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the countries it’s being used in and the contexts in which it’s being used.

First observation | The uritonnoir is very popular in Europe, especially in Northern Europe.
Hypothesis: beer country… mystery…

Second observation | The photos received illustrate the diversity of installation methods in terms of :

👉 modesty, by cleverly arranging straw bales together

👉 audience diversity, by managing the height for children, adding privacy screens for women who want to use it with a pisser-debout

👉 accessorising, litter bins, beer racks, etc.
👉 diversion of use, by using it directly planted in windrows of COMPOST 🪱 to activate its transformation for free

Third observation | The dry material used to plant the uritonnoir also varies according to local availability:

👉 some prefer our recommendation, STRAW, a waste product from cereal crops and perfectly suited to this use. 20€ per 300 kg straw bale.
👉 others install them in hay when they have plenty of it. Less relevant, since hay is primarily a livestock feed and its price can be five times that of straw. On the plus side, hay is much more absorbent than straw!
👉 And at the other end of the planet, in New Zealand, the mystery remains. We’ve never been able to identify the plant fibre used in the bales.

After more than ten years in existence, the URITONNOIR remains the :
👉 the lightest (only 400 grams)
👉 and the cheapest on the market! 💥

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L’uritonnoir | The TEST

Pisseur d'uritonnoir au Hellfest

We know that the uritonoir works perfectly in the backyard, but we still had to assess the absorption capacity of straw bales on a larger audience!

What festival do we have on hand near Nantes?

Well … Hellfest! 😈 A quick call to the KING of Hellfest logistics, always on the lookout for sanitary solutions.

He suggested we install nine round bales of straw, each fitted with 3 uritonnoirs. 27 uritonnoirs in the centre of WHITE CAMP HELLFEST, where 30,000 festival-goers pitch their tents!

A small observation team is organised. Like all conscientious and dedicated designers, we also pitch our tents at one end of the straw bales, equipped with hand-held counters.

The festival opens its doors! Go! Go!

How strange… after a few hours, the festival-goers gave up their 25 cl cups in favour of 1.5 litre jugs… 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺

A tsunami of urine!

Fortunately, we’re not alone: additional sanitary solutions are in place. The first day passed calmly, with wave after wave of festival-goers. They put their jugs on the straw bales and empty their bladders at a frantic pace. At what point, after how many litres, will the straw bales implode? The third day was more complicated! A ball change would have been useful. A ball change would have been useful. But on such a busy festival, handling vehicles are banned for safety reasons.. This is what we call a full-scale crash-test of a technical function!

The small victory is hearing festival-goers exclaim: ‘Ah! But it’s for making manure… clever!’ 🪱
There it’s won: this little object does convey the essential message!

We now have our information:
We can now correctly size the number of uritonnoirs according to the number of users!

The uritonnoir is therefore highly effective in the following contexts:

– micro-festivals, which often have little money to hire sanitary facilities
– agricultural festivals (where straw is readily available)
– green classes, scouting and other nature camps
– sporting events (along trails and other running routes)
– family celebrations, birthdays
– corporate events
– campsites and farm gites
– accrobranche and via ferrata sites
– adventure parks
– and of course in ALL GARDEN AREAS without distinction!

Wherever this precious liquid is harvested to be used in situ as fertiliser for tomatoes! 🍅

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BOB ! Also for on-the-go consumption!

BOB collecte le verre et les emballages issus de la consommation nomade

BOB is designed for the collection and sorting of glass in public spaces, but not only that…

BOB now also offers an out-of-home collection and sorting solution for on-the-go packaging! BOB has a new square yellow lid for food packaging.

Another new feature is that BOB has broadened its shoulders, offering a second storage capacity of 530 litres.

BOB is simply emptied by suction, using the fleets of sweepers and vacuum cleaners already available in urban areas. It can be emptied by a single operator. It saves a considerable amount of time and manpower, as it avoids the need for cumbersome manual collection, which can lead to musculo-skeletal disorders.

BOB is a removable device. It can therefore offer a collection solution for urban cultural or sporting events.

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Ekovore / Prix du Bosquet des innovations 2023 at Jardins Jardin aux Tuileries!

Trophée Edmond&fils. Le composteur individuel Ekovore lauréat du Bosquet des innovations lors de l'événement organisé aux Tuileries Jardins, Jardin

The surprise of the day!

The Bosquet Prize for Innovation 2023! Gardens Garden at the Tuileries

Trophy made by Edmond&Fils

Jardins Jardin ! It’s off to the Tuileries for 5 days of intense exchanges.

www.ekovore.com

#tuileries #transitionécologique #eaupluviale #IBC #jardinage #potager #économiecirculaire #valorisation #écologie #ecodesign #jardins #laureat #bosquetdesinoovations #jardinsjardin

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Uritonnoir is 10 years old!…

Tableau pour fêter les dix ans de l'uritonnoir

Uritonoir is 10 years old!…

… 10 years of providing a light, environmentally friendly and economical sanitary service,

  • for the vegetable gardens
  • for micro-festivals
  • for gîtes and campsites on the farm
  • for agricultural events
  • for sporting events, trails, marathons
  • for ecomuseums

In France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and even the USA!

#urine #fertiliser #agriculture #nitrogen #phoshore #npk #circulareconomy #waterless

And for its 10th anniversary, throughout the month of May, the uritonnoir offers you a 10% discount