Aim of this project is to check whether grey water can be used directly (without special treatment process) as water source for aeroponics cultivation of edible plants.
In future extraterrestrial colonies, water from sinks, laundry,showers etc. (grey water) will have to be recovered as these habitats will work in closed loop manner. Grey water is reasonably clean (especially in comparison to urine or faeces) and can be potentially used as a water source for plant cultivation.
In this project, untreated artificial and real grey water will be mixed with nutrients and used as a liquid fertilizer in lab-scale aeroponics system (growth of lettuce). Firstly, tests on artificial grey water will be conducted. Artificial grey water will be prepared on basis of different surfactants. Only surfactants that are used for body, dishes and clothes washing will be used. Secondly, tests on real grey water will be conducted.
If this project will succeed, it will enable simplification of water recovery process which will lead to lower transport costs and labour intensity.
This idea wasn’t tested before and all available now solutions requires complicated treatment processes for water recovery from grey water.