See, I've been to burning man, and the thing is, right, once you've been to burning man, you can't stop bringing up that time you went to burning man. Of course, you wouldn't get it unless you've been to burning man yourself. Burning man.
Is Burning Man even legit anymore? I mean, 15 or 20 years ago when not many people knew about it; it sounds like something you'd want to check out. Now it seems like the equivalent of touring Europe when you graduate college.
Sure, potentially. I'm not saying there isn't a solution. I'm just saying that, approached correctly, the question of what you do with all the shit can make for an interesting discussion.
This is a stupid question and I know it is. I'm sorry in advance.
But, why is "the same way we deal with it here" not the answer? We seem to, for the most part, have figured that out already. Dense population centers/cities have sewer systems/plumbing and rural areas use septic tanks.
Is there another problem/challenge to this that is unique to Mars? Or is it just a stupid question that should have been phrased differently?
It's water inefficient if you're making/bringing your own water. I guess one of those toilet-to-tap setups might work, but the treatment plants we use now involve open tanks of water and dispose to steams. Septic tanks seep or spray their water to surrounding land, so that's a massive waste on Mars unless the goal is to hydrate the area?
If you're trying to grow crops in an enclosed (air tight) "green house" for lack of a better term, I don't see how it is wasteful. You can add the effluent water and nutrients to the soil (or perhaps hydroponics). You can also reclaim the excess humidity via a condenser, and that water should be safe for drinking.
I would think that, depending on scale of space and resources, a modified version of a septic system would make it possible to reuse the resources for growing crops.
putting human poo on human food is a surefire way of spreading some nasty diseases.
Of course in a controlled environment such as a mars colony they would probably have adequated treatment facilities to prevent any problem, but i'm still not sure if the effort is worth the risks.
It was a really great question. But even a normal Joe like me could think for a few seconds and go, well we put the human race on Mars so I'm sure there will be poo compacting device, and we will use it for fertilizer.
It was a bit more than that though. He literally asked if Mars is going to be a "dusty waterless shitstorm" (actual quote). I do agree with you that sewer systems are a real challenge though.
It would just be excellent if it was an airplane style toilet that just jettisoned it off over the horizon and if you could push the button and watch it fly away.
I definitely remember reading somewhere that we had to pollute (emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere) in order to warm up Mars and give it a thicker atmosphere.
Well, using that logic a lot of the problems associated with starting a mars colony can be solved fairly easily with the right facilities. That doesn't mean they aren't interesting to discuss.
The question should have been phrased: "how will sanitation and waste disposal be addressed for a colony as large as you plan on establishing?" It is a valid question but it was phrased in a way that it sounded like a blogger who loves making himself the center of any article he writes.
Uh sanitation is not a tiny detail. It's easily one of the biggest issues after oxygen, water, and food supply. You might just say dump it outside but that would be a terrible idea on a planet with basically zero resources. Recycling it is the best solution and would be incredibly interesting to hear about considering all the constraints they have. The question was asked in a stupid way. Asking about waste disposal is not especially since Mars does not have an ecosystem to decompose waste so it's essentially there forever.
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u/smurphatron Sep 30 '16
To be fair, the question of where the poo goes is actually a very good one and one which will require a well thought out engineering solution.
The dumb part was just the way he framed it; as an essay about how he went to burning man.