Billionaire Bill Gates plans on saving our water supply from running dry in the future with a steam-powered machine that creates clean, drinkable water out of waste.
The sewage-processor, called the "Omniprocessor," is designed to burn up solid waste and create electricity as well, according to Live Science. The machine measures 75 feet long and 26 feet wide and is capable of processing about 14 tons of sewage per day, which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says makes it big enough to take care of waste from a community of about 100,000 people.
The technology works by sending waste up a conveyor belt and into large tubes called dryers, which boil the sludge in order to capture all of the liquid as water vapor and processing it. The machine then dumps the solid waste into an incinerator that burns up the rest of the waste and creates a bundle of heat that is sent through a steam engine. The engine produces steam at high temperatures to fuel a generator, which, in turn, creates electricity for powering the processor.
Gates wrote in a recent blog post that he is looking to use the Omniprocessor to clean up the contaminated drinking water of millions of people around the world, which he says is caused by billions people overusing bathroom facilities that haven't been drained correctly and a lack of bathroom access to many others, which has pushed them to take care of business out in the open, Live Science reported.
This waste not being properly processed has resulted in disease that kills almost 700,000 children per year and prevents many others from physically and mentally developing as they should.
The entrepreneur added that the processor will be extremely helpful in poor countries that can't afford sewer lines and sewage treatment developed in western nations.
The Gates Foundation is providing funding for Janicki Bioenergy, the engineering company responsible for designing and building the Omniprocessor, to bring the machine closer to its final phase, Live Science reported.
The next step is to launch a pilot project in Dakar, Senegal, to study how the processor would work in a real-world setting, talk to local community members to make sure it is working, and test out sensors and webcams that grant engineers back in the U.S. remote control of the machine. Gates hopes to eventually begin selling Omniprocessors to local entrepreneurs for about $15 million.
Gates wrote in the blog post that while it may be a while before people around the world are able to use the "ingenious machine," he is impressed with how well Janicki's engineers have done developing the technology, Live Science reported.
"The processor wouldn't just keep human waste out of the drinking water; it would turn waste into a commodity with real value in the marketplace," he added. "It's the ultimate example of that old expression: one man's trash is another man's treasure."
