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By using water hyacinths in place of conventional septic systems, NASA has benefited from the cost savings at the John C. Stennis Space Center. The artificial marsh system has advantages over mechanical systems in that they are generally much less expensive to install and in most cases can be designed to operate by gravity flow, which reduces operational and maintenance cost to only a fraction of the cost of mechanical septic systems.

To overcome the limitations of using a tropical plant like the water hyacinth, NASA developed an advanced hybrid system which combined cold-tolerant and salt- tolerant plants with microbial filter technology. Once microorganisms are established on and around the plant roots, they form a symbiotic relationship with the plants and result in synergistic actions toward degradation and removal of organic chemicals from the wastewater exposed to this filter. The plants also add to the microbial filter the capability of removing toxic heavy metals and radioactive elements from the wastewater stream flowing through the artificial marsh. The filter is a simple channel flow with only a perforated header pipe and effluent pipe. Aesthetically pleasing plants such as the canna lily, arrowhead, arrow-arum, elephant ears, and water iris grow within the lagoons.

Water hyacinth harvesting and productivity studies were also conducted at Stennis Space Center in conjunction with the waste treatment studies. Three harvesters were manufactured and evaluated under NASA's Vascular Aquatic Plant Program. These include an enlarged clamshell bucket operated by a dragline.

In a joint effort between NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), research has been conducted on the potential use of houseplants as a tool in solving indoor air pollution problems on Earth. Low-light-requiring houseplants, along with activated carbon plant filters have demonstrated the potential for improving indoor air quality by removing trace organic pollutants from the air in energy-efficient buildings. This plant system is one of the most promising means of alleviating the "sick building syndrome" associated with many new, energy-efficient buildings.

To further illustrate the employment of natural biological processes for air and water purification with the ultimate goal of developing a bioregenerative life support system for permanent human habitation of space, NASA at Stennis Space Center has constructed a BioHome to implement bioregenerative technology. The structure, which is now part of our Visitor's Center, is 45 feet long and 16 feet wide. An exterior plastic coating provides fungal, stain and ultraviolet resistance and has a useful lifetime of 15 years. A layer of 12-inch foam insulation keeps the interior temperature at a comfortable 72 degrees Fahrenheit regardless of exterior fluctuations. Two computer-controlled air conditioners maintain interior temperatures, yet are unique in the sense that they recirculate indoor air as opposed to introducing air from the outside. The interior of the BioHome is divided into a living area and a region for wastewater treatment. Common indoor house plants, which serve as living air purifiers, absorb chemical pollutants resulting from synthetic materials in the living area. The wastewater treatment area utilizes marsh plants and microbes
in a modified artificial wetland. As plants die in the wastewater system, they are composted and used for growth of vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes.


NASA Publications on the Vascular Aquatic Plant Program

The NASA publications on the Vascular Aquatic Plant Program can be obtained from John C. Stennis Space Center's Matthew Fontaine Maury Library, which can be reached by telephone at (228) 688-4597 or by email NAVO_STNS_Maury_Library@navy.mil. Some publications are also available in PDF format at the SSC Technical Report Server.

Some of the links below point to other public and/or private organizations. NASA provides links to these sites as a service to our users. The presence of a link is not a NASA endorsement of the site.

When users follow a link to an outside Web site, they are leaving NASA and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside Web site(s). NASA is not responsible for the information collection practices of non-NASA sites.


WORKING WITH NATURE TO ASSURE MAN OF A FUTURE SUPPLY OF CLEAN WATER
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.

AQUATIC PLANTS FOR REMOVAL OF MEVINPHOS FROM THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT
B.C. Wolverton
NASA TM-X-72720 , February 1975.

WATER HYACINTHS AND ALLIGATOR WEEDS FOR FINAL FILTRATION OF SEWAGE
B.C. Wolverton, R.C. McDonald, J. Gordon
NASA TM-X-72724 , May 1975.

WATER HYACINTHS FOR UPGRADING SEWAGE LAGOONS TO MEET ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT STANDARDS: PART I
B.C. Wolverton, R.C. McDonald
NASA TM-X-72729 , October 1975.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT UTILIZING WATER HYACINTHS (Eichhornia Crassipes) (Mart) SOLMS
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
National Conference on Treatment and Disposal of Industrial Wastewaters and Residues, Houston,
Texas , April 26-28, 1977.

BIOACCUMULATION AND DETECTION OF TRACE LEVELS OF CADMIUM IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
Envrionmental Health Perspectives Vol. 27 , 1978, pp. 161-164.

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF WATER HYACINTHS GROWN ON DOMESTIC SEWAGE

B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
Economic Botany 32(4) , 1978, pp. 363-370.

WATER HYACINTH (EICHHORNIA CRASSIPES) PRODUCTIVITY AND HARVESTING STUDIES
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
Economic Botany 33 , 1979, pp. 1-10.

UPGRADING FACULTATIVE WASTEWATER LAGOONS WITH VASCULAR AQUATIC PLANTS
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
Journal Water Pollution Contral Federation Vol. 51(2) , February 1979, pp. 305-313.

FUEL GAS FROM BIODIGESTION
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
NASA Tech Briefs , Spring, 1979.

ENERGY FROM AQUATIC PLANT WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS
B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
NASA TM-X-72733 , September 1979 .

NATURAL PROCESSES FOR TREATMENT OF ORGANIC CHEMICAL WASTE
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McDonald
1981

ENERGY FROM VASCULAR PLANT WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS

B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald
Economic Botany 35(2) , 1981, pp. 224-232.

HYBRID WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM USING ANAEROBIC MICROORGANISMS AND REED

(Phragmites communis)
B.C. Wolverton
Economic Botany 36(4) , 1982, pp. 373-380.

BASIC ENGINEERING CRITERIA AND COST ESTIMATIONS FOR HYBRID
MICROBIAL FILTER-REED (Phragmites communis) WASTEWATER TREATMENT CONCEPT

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McDonald
NASA TM-84669 , September 1982.

FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR REMOVING FORMALDEHYDE FROM CONTAMINATED AIR INSIDE ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOMES AND FUTURE SPACE STATIONS

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McDonald
NASA TM-84674 , December 1982.

FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR REMOVING INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS FROM
ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOMES

B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald, E.A. Watkins, Jr.
Economic Botany , 1984, pp. 224-228.

UPGRADING SEPTIC TANKS USING MICROBIAL/PLANT FILTERS

B.C. Wolverton, Cecelia C. Myrick, and Ken M. Johnson
Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIX , 1984, pp. 19-25.

FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR REMOVING AIR POLLUTANTS FROM ENERGY-EFFICIENT BUILDINGS
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
Indoor Air Quality Committee, Washington, DC, April 18, 1985.

FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR INDOOR REMOVAL OF THE PRIMARY
COMBUSTION GASES, CARBON MONOXIDE, AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE

B.C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald, Hayne H. Mesick
JOURNAL OF THE MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Volume XXX , 1985, pp. 1-8.

AQUATIC PLANTS AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
Conference on Research and Applications of Aquatic Plants for Water Treatment and Resource
Recovery, Orlando, Florida , July 20-24, 1986.

HOUSEPLANTS, INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS, AND ALLERGIC REACTIONS
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., December 1986.

BIOTRANSFORMATION OF PRIORITY POLLUTANTS USING BIOFILMS AND VASCULAR
PLANTS

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., R.C. McDonald-McCaleb
JOURNAL OF THE MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Volume XXXI , 1986, pp. 79-89.

MICROBIAL-PLANT FILTERS (ARTIFICIAL MARSHES) FOR TREATING
DOMESTIC SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Seminar, Baton Rouge, LA , February 6, 1986.

SPACE BIO-TECHNOLOGY IN HOUSING
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
National Association of Home Builders Convention, Dallas, TX , January 19, 1986.

PENNYWORT AND DUCKWEED MARSH SYSTEM FOR UPGRADING WASTEWATER EFFLUENT FROM A MECHANICAL PACKAGE PLANT
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., R.C. McCaleb 1987

AQUATIC PLANT/MICROBIAL FILTERS FOR TREATING SEPTIC TANK EFFLUENT
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
International Conference on Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment, Chattanooga,
Tennessee, June 13-16, 1988.

AQUATIC PLANT WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
Mobile Bay Audubon Society Annual Banquet, Mobile, Alabama , May 6, 1988.

FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR IMPROVING INDOOR AIR QUALITY

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D.
Nation Foliage Foundation Interiorscape Seminar, Hollywood, Florida, July 19, 1988.

AQUATIC PLANTS FOR PH ADJUSTMENT AND REMOVAL OF TOXIC
CHEMICALS AND DISSOLVED MINERALS FROM WATER SUPPLIES

B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Byron Keith Bounds
JOURNAL OF THE MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Volume XXXIII , 1988, pp. 71-80.

INTERIOR LANDSCAPE PLANTS FOR INDOOR AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
B.C. Wolverton,Ph.D., Anne Johnson, Keith Bounds
September 15, 1989.

A STUDY OF INTERIOR LANDSCAPE PLANTS FOR INDOOR AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
B.C. Wolverton,Ph.D., Willard Douglas, Keith Bounds
July, 1989.

BIOREGENERATIVE SPACE AND TERRESTRIAL HABITAT
B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McCaleb, Ph.D, Willard L. Douglas, Ph.D
Ninth Biennial Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing, Princeton, NJ, May 11, 1989 .

PLANTS AND THEIR MICROBIAL ASSISTANTS: NATURE'S ANSWER TO
EARTH'S ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION PROBLEMS

B.C. Wolverton,Ph.D.
Biological Life Support Technologies: Commercial Opportunities Workshop, Tuscon, Arizona,
October 30-November 1, 1989.