Preliminary design considerations for the M.A.R.S. wastewater treatment system: Physico-chemical or living machine

• Main Authors: David M. Blersch, Erik Biermann, Patrick Kangas Ph. D
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Devon Island
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.664.1203; http://marspapers.org/papers/Blersch_1999.pdf

The Mars Society has been preparing designs for a terrestrial-based analog human habitat for Mars. The Mars Arctic Research Station (M.A.R.S.), currently in the design phase, is slated for construction beginning in July of 2000 in Haughton Crater on Devon Island in northern Canada. An important component of the M.A.R.S. will be the waste treatment system. Housing four to six people, the M.A.R.S. will produce both gray water and domestic sewage that requires treatment. The external environment of the M.A.R.S. imposes unique design constraints, affecting size, cost, reliability, and other critical features of the waste treatment system. The focus of this paper is on the treatment of the wastewater, but the ultimate design for the M.A.R.S.—and for Mars missions in general!will need to be multipurpose with considerations of water recycling, nutrient recycling, and food production. To begin the design process, it is important to review alternative treatment systems that are available. The literature on alternatives is reviewed, including conventional physico-chemical treatment, microbial reactors, algal turf scrubbers, and treatment wetlands. An analysis is made of the relative qualities of these systems to assist in the choice of designs for the M.A.R.S. Some systems, such as some conventional