To address the problems of providing safe and disinfected drinking water both in space and here on the ground, chemists from the University of Utah have developed a two-minute water quality monitoring device, which for now is on test aboard the International Space Station.
The new nontoxic water testing system is an addition to the water purification system that the astronauts use today. Though Americans use iodine and the Russians use colloidal silver for the purpose, for seriousness the samples have to be sent back to Earth. To minimize this stretched time lag, this color-based detection system could come in handy. Here, a water sample is injected into a cartridge containing a membrane-covered disc of a nontoxic reactive chemical; the cartridge is then loaded onto an industrial sensor (basically used to measure automotive paint color). This will then mark out the disinfection in water, determining exactly how much iodine or silver is in the sample.
This process will make things really simple and quick for the astronauts, the long waits of the samples being cleared back to space will be cut down and the purity would be well measured right in front of them. The water quality monitoring can also be a good installation for checking the quality of water back here on Earth itself.
Via: Discovery
