Clean water is one of the main foundations of every civilization. People need water for drinking, cooking and cleaning; something that many western countries take for granted.

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers along with the Norwegian Support Element and the Norwegian Operational Mentor and Liaison Team repaired a broken well in Mazar-e-Sharif, Feb. 4.

“We came here to do repairs on the valves and weld the pipes,” said 1st Lt. Kenny Hansen, Transport Officer. “The way it is now, I hope everybody can go to the well, fill their buckets and go to their house to boil and drink their water,” he added.

The well broke approximately three weeks ago, forcing 800 local Afghan families from two of the well’s surrounding villages to drink out of a small local river, which is unsanitary.

An 18-year-old Afghan man, who spoke English, said that he and all of the villagers are thankful for ISAF and appreciate the Norwegians for repairing their well.

“The well is very important to us because the water that we use is not mineral water and it is very bad for us and the children,” he said. “We are very glad to have ISAF here and they are truly trying to help my people, and this water supply is very important to us, we appreciate it.”

Lieutenant Hansen said he feels good about keeping the villagers from getting sick and is glad the Afghans in the village will have clean and potable water for everyday use.

ISAF

ISAF’s Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) introduced a water purification process to village elders in Shajoy district, Zabul province July 31.

The process is called hypochlorite generation. The machine uses electricity to convert salt water into a chlorine solution; this solution is added to water drawn from village wells. About one tablespoon of the chlorine solution added to a 4-gallon jug of well water is enough to kill all bacteria and parasites in the water.

“Unclean water and dysentery are the biggest issues in Zabul,” said Dr. Saleh Mohammed, director of the Shajoy district hospital. “This project will help children under 5 years old, who suffer from malnutrition and diarrhoea.”

The Zabul PRT chose Shajoy to test the project because of its proficient hospital, where the equipment will be placed. It is the first district in Zabul province given the opportunity to make clean drinking water for families.

“This process will destroy the germs in the water, making it safe to drink so your children won’t get sick,” Air Force Capt. (Dr.) James Arnold, family physician for the Zabul PRT, said to a group of Shajoy elders. “I ask you, respectfully, as the leaders and educated men of this district, to encourage your families and others to continue to use purified water. If you do this, you won’t get sick from the water, but more importantly, the children will not get diarrhea and will get the nutrition they need to grow big and strong.”

ISAF

Clean water is vital to civilization. In an arid country like Iraq, it’s scarce and anything that can be done to make the situation better is progress.

A new water pump station opened in Wahida during a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 15.

The station, which cost approximately $250,000 and was paid for with Commanders Emergency Response Program funds, will provide nearly 2,500 square kilometers of Iraq with water to boost agricultural production.

“This project will supply water to irrigation canals and to the Iraqi people,” said Abdul Kareem Sarir Shanta, a local Iraqi contractor. “This will allow huge areas of our country to be revived.”

The opening of the new water pump station was largely due to the combined efforts of Shanta and Mr. Jawad, chairman of the Wahida City Council.

Shanta took control of the project in early June and completed it in 30 days, 60 days ahead of schedule.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” said Shanta. “I have done something good for my people. Anything I am able to give back to my country is good.”

“I would like to thank the Iraqi contractors that worked to restore and refurbish the station, getting water to the people of Wahida,” said Jawad. “This is truly a great day for Wahida.”

MNF-I

It’s a puff piece for a defense contractor, but it contains a lot of interesting information. Be sure to check out the author’s name at the end of the piece.

Bruce Everson, site general manager of Water Purification Site 6-Victory, a 20-year Australian Air Force veteran and native of Townsville, Australia, oversees purified water production at his assigned site to ensure operations run smoothly. Everson’s site is responsible for producing 1,260,000 liters of water monthly, more than double that of other oasis sites.

Water: one of the most underappreciated and essential elements of life taken for granted from day to day, immediately becomes appreciated when Soldier’s boots hit ground in a desert war zone. Oasis International Water has been providing that essential element – purified water – prepared and processed in six sites on military bases across Iraq, to U.S. and international service members and civilians serving in Iraq since July 2005.

In the beginning of the war, the military faced the often perilous challenge of getting drinking water to its troops from outside sources.

“The military was paying a tremendous amount of money for water, transporting it from various countries like Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc., but more importantly they were exposing a lot of lives to (transport) water,” said Paul Jeffries, a native of Salt Lake City, and chief executive officer of Oasis.

Jeffries explained his company was selected and given the task to purify water from existing water sources in Iraq and to distribute it to servicemembers and civilians serving throughout the country. The on-site purification allows them to purify water in secured areas like a forward operating base, which has drastically cut down on dangerous exposure of Soldiers and equipment, and has saved the U.S. a lot of money.

“Annually, there were about 50,000 trucks bringing in the same amount of water that we produce here,” said Jeffries. We’ve cut it down to about 1,500 trucks per year…This has saved the government over $250 million.”

Oasis has been busy the last three years, said Jeffries. They have produced more than 800 million liters of water and project to have bottled over a billion by next year.

With such a huge volume of water passing through their production sites, the issue of quality control is a demanding job.

The company pushes their water through an extensive and highly monitored process to ensure the water maintains a high level of purity. They go so far as to store samples of their finished product in libraries for referencing purposes in case there should arise any question about the integrity of their water.

“We’ve tested water that has sat in the sun for two years in varying temperatures from winter to summer, and it has maintained its purity very well,” said Alan Morrell, a native Salt Lake City, who is the director of contract and compliance at Oasis. “I don’t believe you can find a more pure bottle of water in the Middle East than we make.”

He continued to say that in the three years they have been doing the job, they have had less than a dozen complaints and those complaints were not about health-threatening issues.

One of the biggest challenges that the company deals with daily is the logistical problem of determining what the raw material needs of all the purification sites will be and preparing for inevitable equipment breaks. They vigilantly maintain 45 day’s worth of product on hand at each site, and uses the same raw materials and equipment in all their plants so if there’s an issue, they can transfer materials from one site to another, said Bruce Everson, a native of Townsville, Australia, and general manager of the site on Camp Liberty.

Everson’s post, called WPS-6 Victory by the company, the largest of the six Oasis sites, was once hit by a mortar that took out one of the generators. The strict regimen of preparation that Oasis follows has served them well when faced with unforeseen events, such as mortar attacks.

“Within nine hours of the attack we replaced the damaged generator and the site was back in production,” said Everson.

“Delivering water is a mission critical activity –it has to happen,” said Jeffries. The amount of redundancy of equipment you see in our yards is to make certain that the plant continually and predictably produces high quality, and high volumes of water.”

“Having been in Iraq for so long we’ve learned what it takes to produce consistently,” he added.

Whether it be mortars, broken machinery, or harsh environmental conditions, Oasis has figured out how overcome the inevitable obstacles to get water to the service members whose mission could not continue without it. They have become an important piece of the logistical puzzle that keeps the U.S. military hydrated and healthy, a role that proves they have truly become and “oasis” in the desert.

DVIDS
By Sgt. Whitney Houston
Multi-National Division – Baghdad

Baghdad Water Authority officials and Iraqi security forces opened a new water distribution site to bring purified water to residents of the Shawra Wa Um Jidir neighborhood of eastern Baghdad, June 30.

The site at Joint Security Station SUJ is part of a combined project, with some assistance from Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, dubbed Patriot H2O.

The project establishes three water-distribution sites and coordinates transportation to disburse water to 9 Nissan residents. The JSS SUJ site is the first to open for business. National police from 2nd Battalion, 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, are providing security for BWA distribution trucks to load water at the JSS.

SUJ residents live far away from main sources of clean potable that are north of Baghdad, explained Mr. Mudhfer, acting deputy district general for the BWA and chief civil engineer of the project. The water department has its own internal long-term projects, but sites such as these bring relief to residents in the meantime.

“It means a lot because these people have been suffering for a long time from a water shortage,” said Mudhfer. “This will help to alleviate their suffering until the time that our (long-term) projects are ready.”

National police Col. Salem Husaen is the battalion commander the 2nd Bn. 8th Bde., 2nd NP Div. responsible for providing security allowing delivery of water to SUJ residents. Husaen said he has not had any problems with the people in SUJ neighborhoods, and he thinks providing security for water distribution enhances the trust and relationships between his forces and the people.

Because of this growing relationship, he said he felt they will be more inclined to assist the National Police in reporting criminal and extremist activity when they bring citizens water.

The water distribution site at JSS SUJ uses water tanks to support Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit operations to purify water that is distributed water to residents via BWA trucks. ROWPU is a system that purifies water drawn from a raw-water source, explained Spc. Cindy Peters, a water purification specialist from Lady Lake, Fla. She is assigned to Company A, 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

“It’s good handing out water to them when they come to get it,” said Peters. “They want water; we’ve got it, and we give it to them – and they know they’re drinking better water than they have been.”

Peters explained how the system works. They pump in water from a well source, and it goes into a well-water bag. Then the raw water is pumped into a ROWPU for purification through a filtration system. Purified water is then pumped into a product bag before it is sent to containers or vehicles for distribution to residents or into storage tanks to be distributed at a later time.

“As a water dog, you learn to walk the line so you know where the water is coming from and going to,” said Peters, who explained water dog is a nickname given to water purifications specialists when they graduate school. “I like what I do. I like being able to help, and what better way to help than giving (Iraqi citizens) purified water to drink.”

In addition to ROWPU operations, educating the populace is important for preserving water as is fixing water leaks and preventing and discouraging Iraqis from illegally tapping the water lines, which causes more harm to the water system, said Maj. Jeffrey Smith, civil-military operations officer from Moss Bluff, La. assigned to for 4th BCT, 10th Mtn. Div.

“These efforts will assist in preventing cholera and other water-borne diseases as well as the necessity for water, which is needed for survival as much as food and shelter,” said Smith.

ROWPUs can produce as much as 3,000 gallons of potable water an hour, up to 60,000 gallons a day, and the Patriot Brigade has Tactical Water Purification Systems that can produce 1,500 gallons an hour, up to 30,000 gallons a day, explained Smith.

While the distribution sites are designed for truck distribution of potable water, individual citizens will be permitted to collect their own water. All three sites have been redesigned to add this valuable service, said Smith. This offers water-distribution facilities with self-service capabilities to local neighborhoods through small, walk-up sites.

“The self-service sites are designed for the immediate needs of families within the local neighborhood,” explained Smith.

Mudhfer said he thinks the three water distribution sites represent the bearing of fruits from cooperation between Iraqi officials and coalition forces. The results reflect this cooperation, and he said he would like to thank the American people. Mudhfer explained that the medium-range projects will solve about 50 to 60 percent of the water problem and a “giant project” in the Rusafa security district that will solve the problem for the next 30 years.

“I am very happy to be here to help my people,” said Mudhfer. “I promise them, if everything goes well, this water shortage problem will be ended soon.”

DVIDS
Staff Sgt. Matt Meadows
4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division