Feces

Human beings need a toilet. The removal of feces is a daily business. This page wants to collect possible methods that may be useful in a Martian colony. The concepts reach from lo-tech to hi-tech.

Lo-tech concepts

Pit latrine

A simple pit latrine in the greenhouse allows to mix the feces with soil,compost and regolith, which can be used to grow food plants. Terra preta can be made.

Maggots

Certain insect larvae can live solely on feces. They produce valuable proteins.

Composting toilets

Composting toilets use bacteria to decompose feces into CO2 and a biological compost usable for plants. Using it directly for edible vegetable production is an open issue.

Hi-tech concepts

Technical waste water recycling is used on the ISS. However feces are not included in the system. It filters some chemicals out and provides fresh water as a result. Urine contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus and can be used to make fertilizers.

Waste water treatment is a well developed technology that is commonly used on Earth in local or regional type systems. Packages systems exist for locations ranging from a construction camp to a small village. Larger systems are usually build per specifications and entire cities can be handled by a single centralized system.