The Pre-Treatment Solution for Water Recovery was developed by NASA Johnson to increase the amount of potable water recovered from the International Space Station’s urine processor assembly system. Turning wastewater, urine, or seawater into potable water requires three important steps: 1) pre-treatment, 2) distillation or membrane filtration, and 3) transport and storage of potable water and brine. This solution is added during the first step, consequently improving the next steps in the process primarily by reducing the formation of solid precipitates.
The solution reduces the amount of precipitates caused by urinary calcium, sulfate ions, and sulfuric acid, creating less acidic brines. By reducing these precipitates, less surface scaling and clogging occurs in the distillation systems and more potable water can be recovered. Also, the solution contains a biocide to prevent the growth of bacteria, thereby increasing storage time and the amount of water recovered.
The solution increased the water recovery rate in the ISS distiller from 75 to 90 percent, doubled the volume of feed processed per cycle, reduced the volume of brine in half, and eliminated the formation of precipitate up to 90% water recovery. The benefits extend to other steps in the process; for example, less precipitate has the potential to reduce the frequency of changing the filters and the number of filters used per gallon filtered during the distillation stage. Furthermore, this pre-treatment solution prevents bacterial and fungal growth during storage.
Although the solution was developed for the ISS distiller, the technology can potentially be used on Earth to pretreat contaminated water that is usually treated with a chemical solution to recover water from organic-laden, high-salinity wastewaters. The technology is a simple additive process that can be scaled to fit processing demands. The technology can be used in the transporting or storage of waste or other water sources due to the technology’s ability to prevent microbial growth.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to commercialize this technology. Please contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
"Mafunzo ya ""Pre-Treatment"" ya Uokoaji wa Maji (PWRS) ni mfumo wa kuunganisha maji ya kunywa kutoka kwa mfumo wa kusanyiko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko wa mtiririko." Kugeuza maji taka, mkojo, au maji ya bahari kuwa maji ya kunywa kunahitaji hatua tatu muhimu: (1) matibabu ya awali, (2) kutengenezea maji, au kuchuja kwa utando, na (3) usafirishaji na uhifadhi wa maji ya kunywa na maji ya chumvi. Suluhisho hili ni aliongeza wakati wa hatua ya kwanza, kwa hiyo kuboresha hatua zifuatazo katika mchakato hasa kwa kupunguza malezi ya precipitates imara. Suluhisho hilo hupunguza kiasi cha precipitates inayosababishwa na calcium ya mkojo, ioni za sulfate, na asidi ya sulfuriki, na kutokeza maji ya chumvi yasiyo na asidi nyingi. Kwa kupunguza precipitates hizi, chini ya uso scaling na clogging hutokea katika mifumo ya distillation na zaidi maji ya kunywa inaweza kurejeshwa. Pia, suluhisho hilo lina dawa ya kuua viini ili kuzuia ukuzi wa bakteria, na hivyo kuongeza muda wa kuhifadhi na kiasi cha maji yanayopatikana. Ufumbuzi huo uliongeza kiwango cha kuokoa maji katika distilleri ya ISS kutoka asilimia 75 hadi 90 na kupanua kiasi cha chakula kilichotengenezwa kwa mzunguko, kupunguza kiasi cha brine kwa nusu, na kuondoa muundo wa precipitate hadi asilimia 90 ya maji yaliyopatikana. Faida huenea kwa hatua nyingine katika mchakato; kwa mfano, precipitate kidogo ina uwezo wa kupunguza mzunguko wa kubadilisha vichungi na idadi ya vichungi kutumika kwa kila galoni kuchujwa wakati wa hatua ya distillation. Zaidi ya hayo, ufumbuzi huu wa kabla ya matibabu huzuia ukuaji wa bakteria na kuvu wakati wa kuhifadhi. Ingawa suluhisho hilo lilitengenezwa kwa ajili ya distiller ya ISS, teknolojia hiyo inaweza kutumika duniani kwa ajili ya matibabu ya maji machafu ambayo kwa kawaida hutumiwa na suluhisho la kemikali ili kuokoa maji kutoka kwa maji machafu yenye chumvi nyingi. Teknolojia ni mchakato rahisi wa kuongeza ambayo inaweza kupandishwa ili kukidhi mahitaji ya usindikaji. Teknolojia inaweza kutumika katika usafirishaji au uhifadhi wa taka au vyanzo vingine vya maji kutokana na uwezo wa teknolojia ya kuzuia ukuaji wa vimelea. NASA inatafuta kwa bidii wamiliki wa leseni ya kuuza teknolojia hii. Tafadhali wasiliana na NASA's Licensing Concierge katika