NASA Tests Moon Base Water Recycling System at University of North Dakota

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has sent a pioneering mobile wastewater treatment system to the University of North Dakota, where graduate students will rigorously test its capabilities for future long-duration space missions. The Divergent Deployable Wastewater Treatment Facility, housed in a specialized trailer, is designed to transform crew wastewater into essential resources, a critical step for sustainable habitation on the Moon and Mars. The tests, conducted at the university's Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat, will evaluate the system's performance under simulated extraterrestrial conditions.

Luke Roberson, surface water systems lead within the Mars Campaign Office at NASA Kennedy, emphasized the necessity of such technology for sustained lunar presence. "NASA’s Artemis program is laying the groundwork for a sustained human presence on the Moon, where habitats will need to operate far from the steady resupply chain that supports astronauts in partial gravity," Roberson stated. "To solve that challenge, we are developing the future of sustainable lunar surface systems to process wastewater into nutrient feedstocks for plants and biomanufacturing." This initiative underscores a shift toward closed-loop life support systems, minimizing reliance on costly resupply missions from Earth.

The facility's innovative design separates different waste streams—urine, hygiene water, laundry water, fecal waste, and food waste—before treatment. This approach is crucial for highly concentrated waste generated by small crews. Each stream is processed by a specialized bioreactor: the Anaerobic Phototrophic Membrane Bioreactor handles fecal and food waste, yielding nutrient-rich wastewater for plant growth; the Suspended Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor treats urine and flush water; and the Membrane Aerated Biological Reactor processes graywater from hygiene and laundry. The treated wastewater is then used to nourish a vertical hydroponic garden within the facility, aiming to grow crops without soil.

Advancing Resource Recovery and Sustainability

At the University of North Dakota, the system has been integrated with the Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat, including a urine-diverting toilet, allowing for source separation of waste streams. This setup is part of a NASA EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) grant. Ali Alshami's team is concurrently developing advanced membrane technologies to enhance water recovery, contaminant removal, and overall system resilience for extended missions. "The tests will help NASA evaluate real-world operation, crew training needs, system reliability, and how wastewater simulants compare with actual human metabolic waste in an analog mission environment," Alshami explained. These developments are vital for creating compact, energy-efficient systems capable of managing complex waste in extraterrestrial environments.

Professor Pablo De Leon, department chair of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, highlighted the significance of this real-world testing. "The testing campaign at the University of North Dakota supports the facility’s technology maturation from laboratory-scale validation toward demonstration in a relevant Inflatable Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat environment," De Leon said. Insights gained from these tests could pave the way for higher-fidelity simulations, potentially including integration with NASA's yearlong simulated Mars missions.

This wastewater treatment technology is a key component of NASA’s broader Bioregenerative Life Support Systems effort. The goal is to create self-sustaining habitats by recovering water, recycling nutrients, and supporting food production, thereby reducing the need for consumables from Earth. Beyond immediate life support, NASA is exploring how recovered resources could fuel in-space manufacturing. For instance, nutrient-rich water could feed microbes to produce lactic acid, a precursor to polylactic acid. This material could be used for 3D printing with lunar or Martian regolith, creating tools, replacement parts, or even construction materials, thus extending the value of waste processing far beyond water and food.

"By sending the facility from NASA Kennedy to North Dakota, the agency is moving a key part of that circular economy out of the lab and into a real-world test," said J.J. Edelmann, surface systems domain lead for the Mars Campaign Office at NASA Headquarters. "The work may begin with wastewater, but its goal is much larger. We want to help future crews live sustainably on the Moon, learn how to operate farther from Earth, and carry those lessons forward to Mars." This advanced recycling capability is fundamental to enabling humanity's long-term presence beyond Earth.