2023-06-28 05:30:00
In hot weather, there’s nothing like drinking a big glass of cold water to quench your thirst. But water is a precious and fragile resource… In the future, perhaps we will thus be forced, to dehydrate ourselves, to consume water recycled from urine and sweat. If this idea makes you nauseous, know that NASA is already doing it! The American space agency has recently managed to transform the biological fluids of astronauts into drinking water.
It even achieved its water recovery target on board the International Space Station, set at 98% thanks to its Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). This comprises several subsystems. The first collects waste water using dehumidifiers that capture humidity from the ambient air resulting from the breath and sweat of the crew.
Cleaner water than on Earth
Another system recovers water from urine by vacuum distillation. This results in water as well as a brine of urine. The Brine Processor Assembly collects the rest of the water contained in this brine by filtering it using a special membrane and then blowing hot, dry air over the brine in order to evaporate the water. And, as the objective is to lose nothing, the humid air released during the process is also collected by the dehumidifiers.
Then, all the water collected is treated through filters and a catalytic reactor that breaks down the remaining traces of contaminants. Sensors check the purity of the water and it is reprocessed if necessary. To prevent the growth of microbes, the system adds iodine to the water. Astronauts can then drink it, prepare food with it, or even use it to brush their teeth. Disgusting ? Not that much! Because Jill Williamson, the head of the ECLSS, assures him: “The crew does not drink urine, but water collected, filtered and cleaned so that it is cleaner than that which we drink on Earth”. It would almost make you want to taste it…
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#Lindustrie #cest #fou #Astronauts #cleanly #sip #urine #sweat
