Sedro Woolley Company Brings Space Age Technology to Earth

Designers of the International Space Station (ISS) had to make it self-sustaining because, once aboard, astronauts had no way to get water or discharge sewage and no connection to Earth’s power grids. Today, ISS has abundant power, clean water and breathable air at the right temperature and humidity — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Without such careful water recycling, 40,000 pounds of water from Earth would be required each year to supply just four crewmembers. Bringing that scientific innovation down to Earth has been slow, primarily because we don’t think we need it. We have abundant su...