ISS Astronaut Drinks Urine To Demonstrate Water Purification System [Watch]

A video previously released by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) showed an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) drinking recycled urine. The video was made to show how the station’s water purification system works.

The video, which was first released in 2013, showed former CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield aboard the ISS. During that time, Hadfield served as the commander of the massive orbiting space station.

During his time aboard the ISS, Hadfield made a series of videos to show what his life in space was like. In one of the videos, Hadfield explained how he and the other astronauts survived on the ISS by recycling water.

According to the former astronaut, the ISS’ supply of drinking water was used to be delivered through resupply missions. This all changed in 2010 when a water purification system was installed on the ISS. As noted by Hadfield, the system is composed of filters and a distiller that allows the astronauts to recycle and clean the water they have used and expelled.

Basically, the system’s distiller spins around to mimic gravity, which helps in separating the waste particles from the water. The filters and other components of the system then work together to purify the water. Hadfield said the system is able to recycle about 6,000 liters of additional water for the ISS yearly.

To demonstrate how clean the water aboard the ISS is, Hadfield drank a sample that used to be urine. As noted by the former ISS commander, recycling urine is an important aspect in the supply of drinking water above the station.

Also, through the purification system, Hadfield noted that the water astronauts consume aboard the station, even if it came from urine, is much cleaner than most drinking water on Earth.

“We even recycle our urine,” Hadfield stated. “But before you cringe at the thought of drinking your leftover wash water in your leftover urine, keep in mind that the water that we end up with is purer than most of the water that you drink on a daily basis.”

“Hopefully that makes the International Space Station its own self-contained environment,” he added. “That’s a critical step towards living for long periods off of planet Earth.”