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Active TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 6)
Mars Campaign Office (MCO) Life Support Systems project Wastewater Processing and Water Management task: Within an integrated life support system, water recovery systems provide water for use by various environmental control and life support functions on board the spacecraft. These functions may include drinking water, food re-hydration, water for crew hygiene, flush water for the spacecraft urinal, source water for oxygen generation, and, depending on the complexity of the life support system, water for crew shower and laundry. The wastewater streams that return from these uses and require treatment to be returned back to a potable state can include stabilized urine and flush water, humidity condensate, shower and laundry grey water, and water from carbon dioxide and wet-trash processing systems. The purpose of the water recovery system is to close the water loop by removing the contaminants associated with the various wastewater streams and then returning the balance of clean water back to the potable water bus in a stabilized form suitable for storage and reuse. This project is investigating the use of silver biocide to control water quality. This project is also developing technologies mitigations to limit biofilm growth in wastewater streams.
Efforts Include:
Silver Biocide - Development of a passive silver ion releasing foam and 3D printed silver infused sorbent for spacecraft water disinfection which delivers safe levels silver for drinking water.
Biofilms - Study modeling, development and testing of mitigations for biofilm growth in spacecraft water systems in nominal operations and dormancy. Mitigations to be developed and tested are nutrient filtration, UV, flushing, and aeration.
Iodine Removal Hot Side: Devleopment of technology to removal iodine from the hot side of the Potable Water System. This technology will ensure the biocide disinfects a majority of the hot water portion of the potable water system while removing iodine prior to crew consumption.
Using biocides in the potable water system is essential to providing clean water for the astronauts. On the International Space Station, iodine is used as a biocide, requiring hardware to remove the iodine prior to astronaut consumption. Silver does not need to be removed, so using silver as a biocide reduces the hardware systems needed. Using biological technology to process wastewater may allow for a system that can provide clean water to the astronauts in a smaller volume than the current state-of-the art used on the International Space Station.
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