Whenever we hear about water being cited on Mars or any other planet-moon body, one often imagines future colonists drinking clear crystal fresh water as if it came straight from the tap.Unfortunately the chances are that water mined from any foreign world will probably be contaminated with dust particles, making it fairly unhealthy to drink. Filtering this space water will become top priority if we are build cities upon other worlds, let alone conduct research on them.
Fortunately it looks as if one companies invention on Earth could enable us to drink water inexpensively off world.
(Israel 21st Century) "Desalination is cheaper than melting ice," said Mino Negrin, managing director and founder of Nirosoft, which simulated the environment at the Davis Station in its R&D labs.
The company's self-contained desalination unit provides up to 100,000 liters a day of purified, desalinated water. Its Lego-like portability makes it easy to ship by air. "We can produce drinking water from almost any source - sea water, rivers and lakes, brackish groundwater, estuaries and lagoons," said Negrin, who hopes to visit the Antarctic Station sometime this year. [...]
Two of the main advantages of the system are that use of chemicals is minimal, and operating costs are low. No wonder Negrin was sought out by Chinese television. China, with a thirsty population of over 1.3 billion, is facing a water crisis. The rollicking economy is a mixed blessing. Water pollution is rampant. Demand keeps rising as cities, agriculture, and industry compete for diminishing supplies. "We are already selling our products in China," said Negrin, who sees a big market for Nirosoft in China. "Our products are needed to help solve China's severe water problems."
While any ice found would obviously have to be melted, this filtration system could help keep costs down for future solar residents.
If Nirosoft's technology can help provide clean drinking water to a nation of over a billion people, how much more could it benefit a future space colony populating in the hundreds?
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This could be very useful technology in the near future, possible even for recycling the water that is available to the colonists while they are still on the colony ship.
ReplyDeleteThe Fool
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