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How did Biosphere 2 use microorganisms to treat waste?
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Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2, located in Oracle, Arizona, U.S., shown in 2008. The facility was originally developed to study survivability and assess whether humans were capable of building and living in self-sustaining colonies in outer space. It was later used as a scientific research facility.
Biosphere 2 utilized a biologically based waste-treatment system that incorporated both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms to process waste within the facility.1
In addition to these microbial processes, the facility employed other biological recycling systems to maintain environmental balance:
- Algal scrubbers: These were used in the ocean ecosystem to remove nitrates, phosphates, carbon dioxide, and other unwanted chemicals from the water.1
- Soil-bed reactor: This system pumped air through the soil in the agricultural domes. It made trace gases—produced by both biological and technological sources—available to soil microorganisms, which then performed metabolic breakdown to prevent the accumulation of these gases to harmful levels.1