How do you clean that clog out?

It should be noted that this is merely recovering energy that was used to pump the water up to pressure in the first place. It might be more effective to reduce water use in the first place, if this [probably] modest amount of energy is of concern.

I love the idea of a turbine in our sewer system. If they can fix the problem of solid waste, this could reclaim energy spent on pumping the water. Every KW counts.

What a great idea! I soooo want one in my home now! Another way to use "waste"d energy :)

Might work in larger diameter sewer lines. In smaller lines it's just a massive clog waiting to happen.

Horizontal sewer line runs are pitched precisely so all water and materials run downhill without depositing any solids in the line. Any narrowing or interruption of the flow eventually leads to big, costly repairs.

Maybe putting it on the fill lines could be helpful. Some faucets already use piezoic energy of running water to power faucet lights or automatic IR valves.

Considering the fact that the outflow from the Los Angeles Hyperion Water Treatment Plant is the 4th largest river in California, it makes sense.

How many watts (or milliwatts) of electricity produced per flush? Now factor in the amount of energy needed to produce it, install it and maintain it. How much CO2 will the plumber's truck emit the first time it plugs up?
See where I'm going here?
We need solutions, not impractical little novelties.

It's like powering a fan to drive another fan to produce power. The drag this thing would generate in a sewer line would create an increase in power consumption by pumps.

Doesn't make too much sense economically. Anyway, water runs through my shower more often than through my toilet. How about installing it there without electrocuting me? Or, put in on the water line coming into the house so that it spins whenever a tap is opened?

As soon as someone pinches a bog loaf, it will clog the potty and Mr Plumber will be called in to take it out.

While it "works" in theory, no one wlll want to risk the disaster that impends from actually putting it in. In other words, it will never happen on a mass scale.

Yes, every kW helps. However, this will NEVER produce a kW, or even a sizable fraction of that. This has to be just about the worst payoff in $/kW idea. Ever. Clearly purchased by people who are bad at math and engineering.

Sewer line intallation seems pretty silly as everyone here notes. How about rain water drainage? Big buildings collect a lot of clean rainwater and typically have drainage pipes already installed. Still an awfully intermittent source of power, but we may develop the need soon anyway.

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Editor's note:
Rain water is an excellent idea.

God, this is stupid.

When this device first came across my desk at work I went to the web site and was immediately clued into the fact that the developers have either never actually installed one of these on a toilet, measured the electricity produced and then suggested something to do with that electricity (trickle charge a battery is all i can think of) or won't report the results.

The news media tend to take an inventor's publicity and immediately translate that into an assumption that they've actually tested the device and analyzed it's performance.

These folks are fishing for development funds when they apparently do not have sufficient confidence to pay for development themselves.

Other posters have noted the problems with the technology.
Flush toilets and sewer systems operate on gravity. Reduce that potential energy and you'll end up either with clogs or a need for increased pumping. And if you're still using a 20 litre toilet, replace it with an HET.

Every KW does not count. Only the ones that are cost effective count.

In addition to the other accurate criticism, the energy recovery is miniscule. There is a reason lake Mead is so big.

Assuming 100% efficiency, no friction loss, and that you flush 1000 liters (aprox 250 US gallons) per day, and you turbine is say 10 m below the toilet, the max energy recovery per day is .0277 KWh, or 28Wh. Think a fridge light bulb for 1 hour.

If you flush a more believable 10x a day (40 liters) you could recover no more than about 0.5 a Watt Hours. To run a 20 Watt lamp for a hour, you'd have to flush for 40 days. Better to burn the poop and recover the energy.

BTW, we are talking 50 milliWatts hours per flush. Better to but a dynamo on the fllusher and make the users press very hard.

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Editor's note:
The company has developed a "new" kind of turbine, folks. I hope to get them online to explain it a little better in the future.

Is it a "magic" turbine? The kind that defies the laws of physics?

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Editor's note:
We can all use a little magic in our life, now and again.

It would probably make more power if you put it on the roof and let the wind blow it

if they have developed a new type of turbine, why not just use it in places that turbines are already used today?

does it really work?

As others noted this will block lines with solid wastes.

Much more energy used to heat water than pump it and it's easier to recover. There are already commerical heat recovery devices that you put on the drain of your sinks and showers but they require spot on-demand water heaters. They can recover almost half the heating energy.

I agree with what Keith Jackson said about attaching it or more than one to the drain pipes and water reclamation pipes that office building and skyscrapers have to collect rainwater. On a very rainy day it could produce a lot of electricity.

Hook one up to the downspouts and generate power from rain too.