NASA Develops Water Filtration for Astronauts

A new water filtration system that produces clean water for astronauts has been developed by teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Glenn Research Center, USA.

The teams developed a flight-ready system IntraVenous Fluid GENeration to produce IV-grade water from available space station drinking water.

The system, to be tested during the STS-131 mission, filters microscopic contaminants to create sterile water on board and will be used intravenously by astronauts for treating medical conditions before they launch into space and after they land.

Nasa said the team used micron-sized filters to trap the bubbles from the system and to produce ultra-pure sterile water that meets US Pharmacopeia standards.

The device will be tested in the ISS’s Microgravity Sciences Glovebox in early May, and two bags of sterile saline solution will be frozen and returned to Earth on STS-132 for testing.

On-board production of IV fluids for medical treatments will reduce costs and storage limitations.

Aided by a grant from the Florida Space Research Institute, the Kennedy team partnered with researchers from the UK and Canada in 2007 to develop Project Clearwater.