The explosion of Aurora is not something you can prevent and you're right, the game does not really make that obvious. Many players, including myself, had some

The explosion of Aurora is not something you can prevent and you're right, the game does not really make that obvious. Many players, including myself, had some anxiety over that. It does change something though, and you'll see what if you go towards it. I think what you're describing is a floating air pump? I'm not aware of a water purifier that isn't base-interior equipment. You can use the pipes with the pump to give yourself access to air in deeper water, but my personal opinion is it isn't worth the effort. A large portion of the game is finding and scanning debris from the Aurora, which unlocks blueprints of new equipment. The scanner is your friend, use it a lot.