NASA Recyles Pee [Edit]

You better believe that headline is true! In an effort to make the most of every drop of water taken to space, NASA has found a way to maximize and recycle each and ever drop of fluid excreted from the human body, from sweat to urine.

The Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is so sophisticated that it can even trap water molecules from the breath of astronauts for re-use.

“For the purposes of spaceflight or a space station, a water-recovery system collects urine from the astronauts and condensation from the cabin air and, through a series of chemical treatments and filters, turns that moisture into drinkable water,” Scientific American said.

“At this point, the water-recovery systems NASA is developing are capable of capturing up to 85 percent of the water in urine. Including the purified condensation, NASA scientists are able to retrieve 92 percent of waste moisture produced during a space mission.”

For now, this is an invention geared at astronauts, but if we continue to abuse our natural water resources, we too may one day be re-drinking our own pee. If that’s not enough to motivate people to cut down shower time, I don’t know what is.