Objectives
Reclamation and purification of waste waters, as performed on the Mir Space Station, will be required to supply crewmembers fo the International Space Station (ISS) with potable and hygienic water. Approximately fifty percent of the potable water supplied to the Mir occupants was produced by the direct recycling of water from humidity condensate. Contaminants released through metabolic functions of humans, off-gasing of hardware, and flight experiments and operations can be present in spacecraft waste waters. To ensure that crew health is maintained during extended missions, all water intended for human use must meet established water quality standards.
The objectives of this experiment were to: (1) characterize the chemical composition of Mir recycled water, Russian ground supplied water prior to launch and on orbit, and the Mir humidity condensate to support development and testing of the water recycling and monitoring systems for the ISS; (2) determine and compare the chemical composition of Mir and Shuttle condensate; and (3) determine whether the potable water onboard Mir meets the Joint U.S./Russian water quality specifications for ISS.
Shuttle-Mir Missions Approach Results
The humidity condensate exhibited steadily increasing levels of ethylene glycol throughout the Mir program. This is believed to reflect the increased levels of ethylene glycol in the Mir atmosphere following coolant loop leaks and maintenance activities. In one case, the presence of ethylene glycol in a condensate sample alerted the ground and crew to the presence of a previously undetected coolant loop leak.
The chemical quality of the recycled and stored water, as determined through postflight analysis met performance and potability requirements. The analysis of samples has provided important data for assessing the potability of recycled water. In addition, these data will be instrumental in developing appropriate water quality monitoring standards for ISS.
Earth Benefits Publications
Pierre, L.M., Schultz, J.R., Sauer, R.L. Sinyak, Y.E., Skuratov, V.M., and Protasov, N.N., Chemical Analysis of Potable Water and Humidity Condensate Collected During the Mir-21 Mission, SAE #97ES-224, 27th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Lake Tahoe, Nevada July 1997.
Sauer, R.L., Sinyak, Y.E, Pierson, D.L, Schultz, J.R., Straub, J.E., Pierre, L.M., Limardo, J.M., Koenig, D.W., Assessment of the Potable Water Supply on the Russian Mir Space Station, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Life Sciences and Space Medicine Conference, Houston, TX March 1996.
Principal Investigators
Yuri Sinyak, Ph.D. Co-Investigators
Mir-18/NASA-1, Mir 19, Mir 20/STS-74, Mir-21/NASA-2/STS-79, Mir-22/NASA-3/STS-81, Mir-23/NASA-4/STS-84, Mir-23/NASA5/STS-86, Mir-24/NASA6/STS-89, Mir-25/NASA7/STS-91
During water sampling sessions onboard Mir, a prepackaged disinfectant wipe was retrieved from the water experiment kit and used to disinfect the Mir galley-hot, galley-cold, or ground supplied water port. Next, a potable water sampler was connected to the port. A waste bag was then connected to the potable water sampler. Using the waste bag, 50 ml of water was collected and discarded. Next, 750 ml of water was collected into the chemical archive sample bag. The chemical archive sample bag was placed in a self sealing storage bag and stowed for return on the Shuttle. These procedures were used to collect galley-hot, galley-cold and ground supplied water for postflight chemical analysis for this experiment. Following collection of the chemical samples, microbiological samples were obtained for a separate experiment called "Microbiological Investigations of Space Station Mir and Flight Crew". After each mission, samples were distributed to the water analysis laboratories at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston and the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow for chemical analysis.
In general, the recycled and stored water supplied to the Mir Space Station met NASA, Russian Space Agency (RSA), and/or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. Exceptions were found to include total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity in the recycled water which routinely exceeded NASA standards. The TOC in some cases, exceeded Russian standards as well. Other parameters such as ethylene glycol, barium, nickel, chloroform, phenol, and dioctyl phthatate occasionally exceeded NASA, RSA or EPA standards. All but the TOC violations were transient. As noted, selected parameters were exceeded but not to a degree that would adversely affect potability of the water.
This research will provide benefits in the areas of methods development for the analysis of drinking water, advanced technologies for the treatment of waste waters, and increased knowledge of potable water contaminants. Improvements in methods development as a result of this experiment will potentially increase the sensitivity of organic analyses 10 fold over present techniques. These improvements will allow more complete characterization of potable water, accounting for nearly all organic constituents, even those at extremely low levels. In addition, by adapting techniques for treating spacecraft waters, the development of better waste water treatment technologies on Earth will be supported.
Pierre, L.M., Schultz, J.R., Johnson, S.M., Sauer, R.L., Sinyak, Y.E., Skuratov, V.M., and Protasov, N.N., Collection and Chemical Analysis of Reclaimed Water and Condensate from the Mir Space Station, SAE #961569, 26th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Monterey, California July 1996.
Richard L. Sauer, P.E.
NASA/Johnson Space Center
Institute of Biomedical Problems
Lizanna Pierre
John Schultz, Ph.D.
Leonid Bobe, Ph.D.
Nikoli Protasov, Ph.D.
V. M. Skuratov, Ph.D.
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Curator:
Julie Oliveaux
Responsible NASA Official: John Uri |
Page last updated: 07/16/1999
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