waterfiltration
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ISS astronauts mimic nature to turn urine into drinking water
Recycling water is key for astronauts on the International Space Station since sending water to the crew is heavy and expensive. The current systems work well and the tech is being used here on Earth in places where clean drinking water is in short supply. In an effort to increase efficiency, astronauts will test a new filtration system from Aquaporin Space Alliance. The so-called AquaMembrane employs nanotechnology and proteins to transform waste water (sweat and urine) into clean drinking water, proteins that regulate water in living things like human kidneys and bamboo shoots. Those aquaporin proteins are situated on a membrane and as water passes through tiny protein tubes, an electrostatic charge stops things like salt from getting through. The water flows continuously from side to side without using extra energy thanks to forward osmosis.
Zuvo Water's Stratus cleans your H2O with WiFi filters, cloud-connected app
Few of us are fortunate enough to enjoy clean municipal tap water -- the rest have to make do with clunky bacteria-riddled filters and wasteful bottled H2O. Enter Zuvo Water, which has hopped on Indiegogo to fund its elaborate and tech-centric Stratus water purification system. It includes WiFi-enabled hardware, filters, optional "intelligent" faucets and a cloud-connected smartphone app that'll tell you when to swap out old cartridges for new ones. These are no ordinary filters either -- they go beyond simple carbon filtration by combining ultraviolet light (UV), oxygenation and carbon with a patented five-step process, which Zuvo claims makes it the "only filter system in the world that is self cleaning." Beat that, Brita. Two kinds of Stratus filters can be part of the setup: a countertop model for existing taps and another that fits under the counter to accommodate one of Zuvo's touch-sensitive faucets designed by D2M (which was incidentally behind Kickstarter-success Instacube). The faucets come in Bamboo, Acacia tri-flow and Hibiscus designs, and with chrome, brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze finishes. In case you don't have your smartphone app handy, the taps are equipped with LED lights to show the water's filter status as well -- blue means clean, yellow means not so much and red means you should probably get a new filter, pronto. In addition to managing your filters, the aforementioned app also offers a personalized hydration coach that'll remind you of your daily water consumption needs.
Ecos LifeLink provides water, internet on tap
It may not extract water from thin air, but Ecosphere's recently unveiled Ecos Lifelink does promise to provide some much needed water filtration in a relatively easy to transport unit -- not to mention its own power source, with enough juice left over to turn the whole rig into a makeshift Internet hotspot. Of course, as you can see above, it's not quite ready to be deployed, but the company says that once it's up and running it'll be capable of pumping out 30 gallons of water per minute and provide wireless connectivity over a 30 mile range. If that's not sufficient, multiple units could be used in conjunction to provide electricity for a small village. Exactly when we might see a full-scale unit, however, remains unclear, with the company apparently still hoping to attract some interest from investors, recenlty showing off a scale model at the Cleantech Venture Forum in San Francisco.[Via Inhabitat]
