The International Space Station (ISS) water monitor will be a unique instrument with design elements that pertain primarily to ISS requirements. It will also serve as a prototype water quality monitoring system for future manned mission systems. It will be especially important for any planned long-duration missions. One prominent example would be a human mission to Mars. The proposed automated in-line heavy metal water supply monitor will operate continuously without the need for extractive sampling. The Phase I product consists of a laboratory-scale test unit and calibration curves for the analysis software. This will serve as the foundation for the engineering work which will take place as part of a Phase II effort.
This technology has potential non-NASA commercial applications for any instance in which a persistent automated analyzer for trace metals in water is required. Its advantage over current technologies (such as mass spectroscopy) is the reduction in required manpower. Potential applications include (1) screening soil and water in the neighborhood of landfills and industrial plants for toxicity, (2) the monitoring of industrial and nuclear facilities, (3) monitoring of hazardous waste transporters, (4) disaster management, and (5) damage assessment by first responders in the case of a spill or accident. We also see potential non-NASA usage for the developing world. Current environmental regulations are loose and as populations begin to demand clean water, instrumentation to monitor heavy metal content on-site without expensive, operator-intensive mass spectrometer equipment will be needed. Two examples of heavy metal pollution within the water supply of developing nations are wastewater generated from recycling of circuit boards and industrial manufacturing of printed circuits. Semiconductors and textiles processing is another source of heavy metal water pollutants.
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