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ESA medical doctor Sarah Gaier, member of the DC22\u00a0winterover\u00a0crew, tests water samples from the Grey Water Treatment Unit (GWTU)\u00a0at the Franco-Italian Concordia research station in Antarctica.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Located on an icy plateau at an altitude of 3200 metres in Antarctica, Concordia is one of the most isolated research facilities on Earth. During the winter, a small crew is cut off from the rest of the world for almost nine months, enduring extreme cold, prolonged\u00a0isolation\u00a0and near-constant darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In such conditions,\u00a0careful\u00a0water management is essential.\u00a0Built by the French company Firmus for ESA and the French space agency CNES, the GWTU system was installed at Concordia in 2005 and recycles up to 85% of the station’s wastewater. This includes water from showers, laundry and drinking water fountains. Even part of the station’s black water, or toilet water, can be recovered by converting as much of it as possible into grey water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The recycling process involves several treatment stages. Water passes through a ceramic honeycomb filter, followed by a pair of membranes,\u00a0then\u00a0additional\u00a0filtration and\u00a0ultraviolet radiation\u00a0eliminate\u00a0any\u00a0remaining bacteria and impurities.\u00a0The system reuses the recycled water for technical and hygiene purposes, while it produces drinking water separately by melting clean, unpolluted snow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ESA medical doctors at Concordia play a key role in\u00a0maintaining\u00a0this system. Alongside their research supporting future human space exploration, they regularly analyse water samples taken at different points in the recycling process. Tests measure parameters such as ammonium and phosphate levels, conductivity,\u00a0acidity\u00a0and bacterial content. During the busy summer season, when the station population can increase to around 80 people, the medical doctor\u00a0monitors\u00a0the water quality more\u00a0frequently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Concordia is\u00a0operated\u00a0by the French and Italian Antarctic research programmes, IPEV and PNRA, whose support has been\u00a0essential\u00a0to the\u00a0recycling system’s long-term validation in this extreme environment.\u00a0The\u00a0system\u00a0has now also been used to\u00a0support\u00a0remote communities on Earth\u00a0and\u00a0even\u00a0recycle water at the\u00a0French tennis tournament Roland Garros.\u00a0The\u00a0proven\u00a0technology could one day\u00a0help sustain astronauts\u00a0during the long\u00a0journey\u00a0to Mars.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n