The Whole Wide World

I received a couple more questions from the one and only Francesca.

Where does the poop go?

The poop goes across station in overland poop pipes to the wastewater treatment facility. It is macerated upon arrival and then goes through the appropriate tanks before being flushed out the backdoor and into the sea. Any leftover solids or things that end up there that should not have been flushed end up getting boxed up and shipped back to California during vessel season. This is all part of the Antarctic Treaty. I took a tour of the wastewater facility earlier this winter. It was super interesting. We got to look under a microscope at the microorganisms that help break things down. They are called water bears and they were even featured on a loop on one of our TV channels for a brief stint. If you want to see the plant check out this PBS episode on the wastewater treatment facility here at McMurdo.

Fun fact: On the tour the wastewater facilitator, Stefan, let us know he always knows when it’s Tuesday based off of the corn that appears from Taco Tuesdays.

Is there one power station for all the places on Antarctica?

McMurdo has a power plant that is run off of diesel generators. Our Kiwi neighbors over at Scott Base have wind turbines and they are supplemented by our power plant. The other stations around the continent have their own means for electricity…that I know nothing about. I also got to go on a tour of the power plant earlier this winter. It was noisy. It’s pretty neat getting to tour all of these facilities. Essentially we are learning the innerworkings of a town.

We are also pretty resourceful. There is what is called a waste heat loop. This is a system that recaptures the heat the generators make and it uses it as a primary source of heat for the buildings on station. It is distributed by a glycol pipeline that goes to most buildings on station.

Anyone else have any questions about life in Antarctica? Bring ’em on.