The gold, that is, not the poop. Well, they have to touch the poop to get the gold, but you know what we mean.

So it turns out that you've been flushing gold down the toilet the whole time, along with other precious metals that could probably help you make rent every month. Yeah, bet you feel bad now, and all you'd have to do would be to save all of the faeces that you produce and sift through it to filter out the metals, it couldn't be easier.

According a recent article in The Guardian, "sewage sludge contains traces of gold, silver and platinum at levels that would be seen as commercially viable by traditional prospectors", and a study by Arizona State University showed that a city of 1 million inhabitants was probably flushing about $13 million (€11,847,855) worth of gold and other precious metals down the crapper.

Not only would it be good for your pocket, but Kathleen Smith, one of the lead researchers on the US Geological Survey that came up with these findings, stated that it would also benefit the environment, as it would also remove other harmful metals from waste and sewage: "If you can get rid of some of the nuisance metals that currently limit how much of these biosolids we can use on fields and forests, and at the same time recover valuable metals and other elements, that’s a win-win".

The metals end up in our waste thanks to an increasing number of every day products that contain them "such as shampoos, detergents and even clothes, where nanoparticles are sometimes used to limit body odour". The levels of metals that are of use that can be found in human faeces are also surprisingly high, and are "comparable with those found in some commercial mines", so you are literally sitting on a gold mine. 

Also it turns out you were right when you said that your finances were in the toilet. 

Via The Guardian. Main pic via Wikipedia