Water
Water is a chemical compound consisting of a single oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms (chemical symbols: H2O). Clean water is essential to almost all known forms of life, and its unique properties make it invaluable for most industrial processes. Although water in the liquid phase is abundant on Earth, its scarcity on Mars make it into a critical resource to be treasured.
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Contents
Usage
Drinking water
The human metabolism requires regularly the intake of fresh water. Since water is rare on Mars the recycling of all excretion is a must. There are two ways: Wastewater can be treated with technical means, which is partially done on the ISS already. Alternatively, the water can be kept in a natural cycle, using the greenhouses.
Industrial processes
Many industrial processes considered for a Mars settlement, in particular the production of methanol and methane, require hydrogen gas. This can be obtained by electrolysis, with oxygen gas as a byproduct.
Most other processes require the use of significant quantities of water as a solvent for reagents such as acids or ammonia.
Open issues
- What is known about the isotope ratio of Martian water?
- Is the higher deuterium portion a health risk?
- How will the excess deuterium be filtered out?
