Scientific Clogging
A recent story about NASA's water recycling system is clogging Google search results. Apparently, excess calcium in astro-urine is clogging the International Space Station's recycling system.
Engineers trouble-shooting a problem with the station's $250 million water recycling system, which processes urine into clean water for drinking, believe the cause is a high concentration of calcium in the astronauts' urine, which clogs the system.
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"We've learned a lot more about urine than we ever needed or wanted to know -- some of us anyway," said station flight director David Korth.
I have been unable to trace the source further back than Reuters, which is very annoying. One of my pet peeves is news stories which fail to cite sources properly.
Now, if the objective is to recycle, then I have a suggestion: use an acetic acid reaction module. The reaction products are hydrogen and calcium acetate. The uses of hydrogen are obvious. As to the calcium acetate, it may be used as a food additive, especially in candies. Delicious!
