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Issued patent

Modular System for Waste Treatment, Water Recycling, and Resource Recovery

An issued NASA patent from the Technology Transfer catalog.

View at technology.nasa.gov
Media from NASA Technology Transfer

About this technology

Overview

Current water recovery and purification systems aboard the International Space Station are open loop (requiring external inputs) and inefficient. Additionally, organic wastes (i.e., fecal and food wastes) are currently not recycled, thus adding additional waste processing and hazardous conditions for astronauts. This is not a viable approach for long duration space habitats and missions. The Modular System for Waste Treatment, Water Recycling, and Resource Recovery technology addresses these problems using a completely closed-loop system of modular subsystems that combine to treat and recycle wastewater streams and organic food waste to produce clean water, gases that can be used for fuel, and fertilizer constituents that can be utilized for plant growth.