Divergent Deployable Wastewater Treatment Facility

NASA’s Moon to Mars Campaign seeks to achieve a sustained Lunar presence as part of its strategy to enable crewed missions to Mars, an ambitious feat that will propel humanity into space further than ever before. Before a sustained presence on the Lunar surface is attained, an initial habitat solely focused on the essential survival elements (e.g. water reclamation) of the crew must be developed, studied, and optimized. At the Kennedy Space Center, a divergent deployable wastewater treatment facility (DDWTF) is currently under construction with plans to be integrated into the Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat (ILMAH) at the University of North Dakota (UND). The overall vision of the DDWTF is to process separate distinct astronaut wastewater streams (fecal, urine, hygiene/laundry) and convert them into value added products such as nutrient fertilizer and reusable water. The DDWTF houses a series of bioreactors and a vertical garden. These bioreactors – the Anaerobic Phototrophic Membrane Bioreactor (APMBR), Suspended Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor (SAMBR) and the Membrane Aerated Biological Reactor (MABR) – were built to collect and eliminate logistics wastewater through individual treatment processes. Individual processes are necessary for spaceflight when the astronaut population is small, and specific wastewater concentrations are high in solids, salts, or surfactants. The APMBR converts black wastewater streams (e.g. fecal) and generates a nutrient fertilizer effluent. The nutrient fertilizer will then be used hydroponically for plant growth located in the vertical garden. SAMBR processes the urine wastewater streams, while MABR processes gray wastewater streams (e.g. laundry/hygiene water). The objective of SAMBR and MABR are to regenerate water that can be further polished into potable water. Combining these bioreactors into a DDWTF is the first step towards developing a deployable, robust wastewater treatment module and water purification system for Lunar and Martian habitats.