Study was made and system defined for water-recovery and solid-waste processing for low-rise apartment complexes. System can be modified to conform with unique requirements of community, including hydrology, geology, and climate. Reclamation is accomplished by treatment process that features reverse-osmosis membranes

Guarneri, C. A.

Reed, A.

Renman, R.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

December 1973	 B73-10428 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Design for Waste-Management System 
The design of effective water-recovery and solid-waste 
processing systems is an ever-present challenge in today's 
technology. Much of their development has been in 
heavy industry, the major consumer of natural resources 
and, consequently, the major producer of waste. With 
so much attention focused on industry, however, there 
is a tendency to overlook residential communities, also 
coping with their water and waste-disposal problems. On 
a smaller scale are apartment houses, which must deal 
with their water and waste as an integral part of the 
community effort. 
In this context, a study was made, and a system de-
fined, for water-recovery and solid-waste processing for 
a low-rise apartment complex, consisting of 500 units 
or 2000 occupants. This system can be modified to 
conform with the unique requirements of a community, 
including hydrology, geology, and climate. 
The proposed design incorporates the following: 
1. Water conservation: Vacuum lavatories, flow limiting 
devices, and front-loading clothes-washing machines. 
2. Direct reuse: Dish and clothes rinse water reused for 
subsequent wash cycles. 
3. Water-waste collection and transport: Separate vacu-
um collection and transport of gray and black water 
using a common vacuum source. 
4. Waste-water processing: 
a. Separate incineration of concentrated black water 
and refuse, with heat recovery for power gener-
ation.
b. Subsurface gray-water irrigation in growing seasons 
- treatment to potable quality for limited house-
hold reuse during the remainder of the year. 
Water-recovery requirements are minimized by reducing 
household use, and by recycling only when there is no 
need for water of less-than-potable quality. 
According to the system design, black water is 
concentrated in vacuum lavatories, transported directly 
to vacuum receivers located in the center of the 
community, and incinerated on a more or less con-
tinuous basis. Gray water is accumulated in each 
apartment building and transported periodically to 
separate central vacuum receivers. Each apartment is 
also equipped with a tube settler, designed to separate 
solids and grease and discharge them periodically to 
black-water vacuum lines. Gray water then is pumped to 
a small storage pond or tank. A spreading basin is 
provided also, to accommodate periods when the gray-
water supply exceeds the demand. 
During growing seasons, landscape irrigation requires 
a greater quantity of water than the community con-
sumes. As a result, gray water is directed during these 
periods to a subsurface irrigation network. During 
periods when irrigation is not required, gray water is 
directed to reclamation equipment where it is treated 
to potable quality and reused for clothes washing and 
bathing. Reclamation is accomplished by a treatment 
process that features reverse-osmosis membranes. 
(continued overleaf) 
• 
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Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States
	 information contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
	
will be free from privately owned rights.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730000428 2020-03-17T07:30:48+00:00Z
Note: 
The following documentation may be obtained from: 
National Technical Information Service 
Springfield, Virginia 22151 
Single document price $3.75 
(or microfiche $1.45) 
Reference: NASA CR-128857 (N73 .19158), Volume 
I, Study of Water Recovery and Solid Waste Proc-
essing for Aerospace and Domestic Applications. 
Single document price $12.75 
(or microfiche $1.45) 
Reference: •
 NASA CR-I 28858 (N73-19 159), Volume 
II, Study of Water Recovery and Solid Waste Proc-
essing for Aerospace and Domestic Applications. 
B73-10428
Patent status: 
NASA has decided not to apply for a patent. 
Source: C. A. Guarneri, A. Reed, and

R.Renmanof
Grumman Aerospace Corp.

under contract to

Johnson Space Center

(MSC-14486) 
Category 05


Design for waste-management system

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