The system is also needed for future manned missions to other planets, which will be impossible to supply with new drinking water.

To make this water safe to drink, a chain of complex chemical processes is employed, says Anatoly Zak, an expert from the RussianSpaceWeb.com.

First, the water undergoes a number of purification stages and then is filled with minerals, to make is safe to drink.

“It is obviously a big step forward towards the ISS being occupied by its full crew and for the future of space exploration,” says Zak.

However, such systems were in development for a very long time.

“Of course, Russians were the ones who pioneered this kind of technology in the 1970s, when the Salut space stations were first equipped with systems recycling water and on the Mir space station, which truly was the first international and permanently occupied space station. It had systems like that on board as well,” added Anatoly Zak.

Many space innovations make life easier back on earth, too, and these water recycling systems are not an exception. Common water filters, which we use nowadays in many countries involve similar technologies.