Regenerative water purification for space applications: needs, challenges, and technologies towards 'closing the loop'

Publication date: Available online 15 October 2019Source: Life Sciences in Space ResearchAuthor(s): Melanie T. Pickett, Luke Roberson, Jorge Calabria, Talon Bullard, Gary Turner, Daniel H. YehAbstractHuman missions to establish surface habitats on the Moon and Mars are planned in the coming decades. Extraplanetary surface habitat life support systems (LSS) will require new complexity to withstand these unique, harsh environments. In order to provide safe, habitable environments for the crew, water purification systems that are robust and reliable must be in place. These water purification systems will be required to treat all sources of water in order to achieve the necessary levels of recovery needed to sustain life over the long-duration missions. Current water recovery and purification systems aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are only partially closed, requiring external inputs and resupply. Furthermore, organic wastes, such as fecal and food wastes, are currently not recycled, adding additional waste processing and hazardous conditions for the crew. For long-duration missions and habitats, this is not a viable approach. The inability to recycle critical elements (e.g., C, H, O, N, P) in organic wastes represents a lost opportunity to recycle the constituents for subsequent food production, water purification, and atmospheric regeneration. On Earth, a variety of technologies exist to meet terrestrial wastewater treatment needs; however, these systems are rarely...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - Category: Biology Source Type: research