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FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan — After four days of water rationing, a life-health and safety memo was submitted to U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, and Forward Operating Base Farah was given a higher priority for a new well.
Drew Clemens, a geologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who is heading up the technical aspect of the Theater Well Drilling Program, arrived at FOB Farah on Jan. 18, 2010, with a team of three U.S. Air Force Civil Engineers, including two plumbers and an electrician, to assess the situation.
The four-man team from the 777th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, working for the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, are the first step towards a suitable water solution here. The 777th ECES is also known as a Prime BEEF Squadron (Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force).
"We are just barely getting by," Clemens said about the current water supply on FOB Farah. "With the troop surge and contractor surge coming in, we're flat out not going to have enough, which is why Farah has been bumped up on the priority list for getting a primary and a backup deep-water-supply well."
Besides the water supply, the quality of the water is also a concern on FOB Farah. The only water on the FOB is referred to as disinfected-non-potable water. It is water pulled out of the shallow wells, which is then chlorinated to stop bacterial growth. The water gets no further treatment before it is used.
"The well water here has got a very high mineral content," said Clemens. "You see the kind of white dandruff looking stuff on the soil; those are the minerals that are in the water."
Clemens explained that the major minerals found in Farah water include sodium chloride, better known as salt, and calcium sulphate, a compound used in the creation of drywall.
The aquifers in the area, or layers of saturated sediments transmitting or producing useful quantities of water, are very important, especially when planning to drill a deep well. Clemens said every well on FOB Farah is using the same aquifer.
"Everyone has their straws in there," said Clemens, "the more straws, the more problems."
The two original wells built on FOB Farah are considered household wells. A household well, by American standards, normally produces five gallons per minute. But when you have a household of 500 to a 1,000 people, you need a better designed well or a deeper one.
U.S. Army Capt. Schuyler Williamson, the supply officer for the 4-73rd Cavalry, 82nd Airborne Division, which is responsible for running the FOB, said, "They want to drill the well deep enough so they pull from a different source of water so they don't effect any of the local [nationals'] wells that are in the city around us."
When Clemens' report is complete, it will not only contain his expert opinion on the best location to drill a new deep-water-supply well, but it will also include suggestions for how to better use the current wells in terms of maintenance and operation.
"Our goal is that all service members who come through here, or are stationed here, have plenty of water for a hot shower, that we have no issues with the dining facility having to operate off of just bottled water, and that we have enough water for all the maintenance operations as well as maintaining the airfield," Clemens said.
To help him do that, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Destrey Robbins and Airman 1st Class Whitney Sargent, who are both plumbers, and an electrician, Senior Airman Daniel Smith, accompanied Clemens on his first assessment trip to Regional Command West.
"Every time we get one of these missions," Clemens said, "I ask for a plumber and an electrician because the problem is usually not just in the well itself. There could be a problem in the control panel or a problem in the distribution system. So, I bring some experts with me to help me out," he said. "They are absolutely wonderful guys to work with."
The Airmen have assisted Mr. Clemens by taking measurements from the proposed well location and existing wells, to buildings such as the dining facility and living quarters. All this data will then become useful in the water distribution system design phase.
Once all the information was collected and Mr. Clemens had about two days worth of report writing, Sgt. Robbins and Airmen Sargent and Smith looked for work elsewhere on the FOB.
"They just came to my office and said, 'Do you have any work for us?'" said Master Sgt. Guy Powell, the FOB Mayor.
Robbins, Sargent and Smith were able to wire the lights in the laundry room expansion, service three washing machines, provide the new Behavioral Health Clinic with lights and power outlets, complete the electrical work in the upcoming Morale and Welfare internet café, and resolve a septic tank plumbing problem.
"They probably moved us forward by two or three weeks on some of the projects," Powell said. "They've done a lot in a short period of time."
So much work in fact that the 4-73rd Cavalry Squadron commander, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Wawrzyniak, presented all three of the Airmen with Army Achievement Medals.
"I'm trying to figure out how to break a plane or how to get some bad weather in here so we can keep you working here for a month," Wawrzyniak joked with the young engineers.
Clemens and his team usually spend 10 days at each base evaluating each water system, but they finished their analysis at FOB Farah in just five days.
"This FOB is very well run," said Clemens. "The FOB Mayor has got a really good handle on what's going on, so things that normally take me two or three days to figure out, I was able to get done in the first day."
Work on the well is scheduled to begin next month.
This is Mr. Clemens eleventh mission of its type. He and his Airmen augmenters will leave FOB Farah for another remote location in RC-West within the next few days.
"This has been one of the high points of my professional career, to work on the water well problems to support the troops," Clemens smiled.
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2010 09:21 |
| Story ID: | 44553 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE FARAH, AF |
| Web Views: | 987 |
| Downloads: | 564 |
This work, FOB Farah water system assessed to see if all is 'well', by MSgt Tracy DeMarco, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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