ORIGINATING TECHNOLOGY/ NASA CONTRIBUTION

In the 1960s, NASA’s Manned Space Center (now known as Johnson Space Center) and the Garrett Corporation, Air Research Division, conducted a research program to develop a small, lightweight water purifier for the Apollo spacecraft that would require minimal power and would not need to be monitored around-the-clock by astronauts in orbit. The 9-ounce purifier, slightly larger than a cigarette pack and completely chlorine-free, dispensed
silver ions into the spacecraft’s water supply to successfully kill off bacteria. A NASA Technical Brief released around the time of the research reported that the silver ions did not “impart an unpleasant taste to the water.” NASA’s ingenuity to control microbial contamination in space caught on quickly, opening the doors for safer methods of controlling water pollutants on Earth. Numerous independent laboratory tests from NASA, health departments, and universities, and many years of field testing have confirmed the exceptional sanitizing ability of copper/silver ionization. Studies further show that using a combination of copper and silver can be effective against E. coli, Pseudomonas, Legionella Pneumophila (Legionnaires’ disease), Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, and other athogens—some of which have proven to be resilient even to high levels of chlorine.

The electrolytic ionizer has proven to be invaluable for industry, especially in the areas of heating, venting, and air conditioning, and where cooling towers are relied upon to remove heat from a stored water source so that the water can be recirculated and reused or safely discharged to a natural body of water, like a river. Currently, there are more than 15 million cooling towers in the United States alone. This number will continue to increase significantly with the construction of new commercial and industrial facilities.

Water is the most commonly used coolant medium, and an open recirculating system is the most common type of equipment for a cooling tower Compared with other coolants, water is plentiful and inexpesive, and can carry large volumes of heat without considerable expansion or contraction. On the other hand, water can create major problems. Algae and microbiological contamination in the cooling system can lead to troubles ranging from bacterial buildup and Legionnaires' disease, to costly, extended downtime for cooling system repairs and the premature deterioration of expensive capital equipment.

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