Can you polish a turd?

clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions

Aug 11, 2003

20,789

Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls

• Jan 23, 2015

• #1

possibly

If the holy grail of medieval alchemists was turning lead into gold, how much more magical would it be to draw gold from, well, poop? It turns out that a ton of sludge, the goo left behind when treating sewage, could contain several hundred dollars’ worth of metals—potentially enough to generate millions of dollars worth of gold, silver, and other minerals each year for a city of a million people.

Metals have long been known to concentrate in sewage, which mixes toilet water with effluent from industrial manufacturing, storm runoff, and anything else flushed down the drain. It’s a headache for sewage utilities that must cope with toxic metals lacing wastewater headed for streams or sludge that might otherwise be spread on farm fields.

But what if those metals had value? In a new study, scientists at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, quantified the different metals in sewage sludge and estimated what it all might be worth. They took sludge samples gathered from around the country and measured the metal content using a mass spectrometer that can discern different elements as they are ionized in a superhot plasma. The upshot: There's as much as $13 million worth of metals in the sludge produced every year by a million-person city, including $2.6 million in gold and silver, they report online this week in Environmental Science & Technology.

Click to expand...

rest of article..... http://news.sciencemag.org/environm...dge-could-contain-millions-dollars-worth-gold

 

symyjym

Banned

Nov 2, 2009

13,138

Brighton / Hove actually

• Jan 23, 2015

• #2

Definately;

 

GT49er

Well-known member

Feb 1, 2009

46,712

Gloucester

• Jan 23, 2015

• #3

clippedgull said:

possibly



rest of article..... http://news.sciencemag.org/environm...dge-could-contain-millions-dollars-worth-gold

Click to expand...

Having read that I'm thinking of offering mine to the local scrap metal dealers ..............

Should I charge by volume or weight?

 

D

dennis

Well-known member

Aug 1, 2007

1,151

Cornwall

• Jan 23, 2015

• #4

To polish a turd, I would suggest using Turtle Head Wax

 

H

Hampster Gull

New member

Dec 22, 2010

13,462

• Jan 23, 2015

• #5

Turd a polish?

 

Goldstone1976

We Got Calde in!!

Helpful Moderator

NSC Patron

Apr 30, 2013

13,782

Herts

• Jan 23, 2015

• #6

Sure you can. You can even make money from doing so too. If both you and your customers are American. Obviously.

http://www.susankayjewelry.com/NewCoprolite1.html

"Two hundred million years ago
a dinosaur felt the urge to go.
He strained with all his might
and left this piece of coprolite.
Years after they had all died
it had slowly petrified.
Now that it has turned to rock
its really sad that it can't talk.
Oh what a story it could tell
but here it is . . .not even a smell."

 

H

HAILSHAM SEAGULL

Well-known member

Nov 9, 2009

10,347

• Jan 23, 2015

• #7

They have been trying to polish one in SE25 for years......definative proof that its impossible

 

Norman Baker suck my lozenge

New member

Feb 24, 2004

6,638

Freshening up for the Ladies.

• Jan 23, 2015

• #8

this prat had a good go.

 

A

A mex eyecan

Well-known member

Nov 3, 2011

3,307

• Jan 23, 2015

• #9

Norman Baker suck my lozenge said:

this prat had a good go.

Click to expand...

looks like he polished his head, heard people call him shit head, so guess the answer is yes

 

Big G

New member

Dec 14, 2005

1,086

Brighton

• Jan 23, 2015

• #10

No, but you can roll it in glitter!!!