It turns out there's a lot of gold in your excrement indy100 indy100 Indy100 logoNewsletter sign upRegister/Sign inTop 100NewsViralPoliticsCelebritiesScience & TechVideoWishlistWishlistBooksFashion & BeautyFood & DrinkHome & GardenKidsSports & FitnessTechTravel & OutdoorsMoreScience & techVideoConversationsSportIdentitiesLifestyleShowbizTVSearchxViral

It turns out there' s a lot of gold in your excrement

Evan BartlettJan 22, 2015 A team of brave researchers has discovered that sewage in major cities can be home to millions of pounds worth of gold and other metals. After studying sludge - the "goo left behind when treating sewage" - in cities across the US, the team from Arizona State University found that a city with a million people can produce about £13 million (£8.65m) in precious metals each year. It turns out our sewage is a treasure trove full of valuable elements like gold, silver, copper and platinum, according to the research published in the Environmental Science & Technology journal. It's not exactly clear how all that metal gets in the system but the Smithsonian suggests it may be from "mining, electroplating, electronics and jewellery manufacturing". While the Arizona State scientists do not estimate how costly it would be to extract this treasure, a Yale University engineer, Jordan Peccia, told Science that it could be worthwhile. We’re not going to get rid of this sewage sludge. We need to make this push where we stop thinking about it as a liability and instead we think about it as a resource. And anything we can find in sewage sludge that’s valuable, it’s good. Jordan Peccia, Yale Maybe you can polish a turd after all...Keep reading...Show less

Who is Emmanuel the emu' s owner Taylor Blake

YouTuber criticised for living like Jeffrey Dahmer for ' 24 hours'

Who is Owen Gray and why are people obsessed with him

Please log in or register to upvote this article

Top 100

Who won today' s PMQs Truss tells Starmer she' s ' a fighter not a quitter'

prime minister's questionspmqsliz trusskeir starmerprime minister's questions24m

Elon Musk reportedly thought that Grimes was not real

elon muskgrimescelebritiesspacexteslaelon musk3h

Just Stop Oil protester praised for ' great' explanation of soup stunt

just stop oilvan goghprotestclimate activistsjust stop oil4h

Who is Emmanuel the emu' s owner Taylor Blake

taylor blakeemuviralemmanuel the emuavian flubird flubirdtiktoktaylor blake8m

Brave woman speaks out about discovering her parents are siblings

adoptionincestbbc radio 4adoption19m

Man endures ' 29 hour flight' with screaming kids for the entire trip

flightplanechildflightOct 12, 2022

Lorraine Kelly hits out at Madonna' s ' boiled egg' face

madonnamadonnalorraine kellygmbshowbizplastic surgeryOct 11, 2022

Elon Musk is actually selling a ' Burnt Hair' fragrance

elon muskthe boring companyperfumeelon muskburnt hairOct 12, 2022

Couple spark debate for ' scandalous' wedding cake topper

wedding cakeOct 12, 2022

Love Island star shows extent of how far influencers edit photos

Love IslandOct 11, 2022

Jon Stewart slams Arkansas attorney general for her ' anti-trans law'

lgbt+Oct 11, 2022

Steven Seagal describes Putin as one of ' greatest world leaders'

steven seagalOct 10, 2022

Lizzo wears empowering shirt after being fat-shamed by Kanye West

lizzoOct 10, 2022

14 of the worst things the Tories did this week

liz trussOct 08, 2022The Conversation (0)