Al Asad begins construction of water bottling plant

Photo By Sgt. Marshall Thompson | Reid Dimick (left) and Tim Thompson (right), both project managers for AL-Morrell Development, inspect the pre-fabricated pieces of what will be a water bottling plant at Al Asad Air Base. This will be one of six new facilities that will save money and cut down on convoys in theater.  

AL ASAD, IRAQ

04.14.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - Construction is underway at Al Asad Air Base on one of six water bottling plants planned for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Soldiers at Logistical Support Area Anaconda are already drinking the in-house bottled water from a similar plant built last year by AL-Morrell Development. The plant at LSA Anaconda turns out unlabeled bottles of clean drinking water in ample amounts for the nearly 25,000 servicemembers and civilians within the gates.

Soon there will be similar plants at Camps Victory, Al Taqqadum, and Al Asad, Q-West Base Complex, Foward Operating Base Speicher, as well as LSA Anaconda . The purpose of the plants is to cut the costs of drinking water and to reduce the number of combat logistics patrols.

"Any time we can produce the water here, it eliminates the need for a convoy," said Reid Dimick, a project manager for AL-Morrell. "We'll do anything we can to help, because lives are at stake."

Water is important for good health, especially during the extreme heat in the summer when dehydration is a major hazard. Dimick remembered a young Iraqi boy who worked for him last year and how he would always get a bottle of water for his little brother who was sick.

"Every night, he"d get a bottle of water," Dimick said. "I"d always make sure he got an extra one."

Dimick and others have worked with people from a variety of different countries to finish the construction projects in Iraq. He said at first it's hard to communicate, but soon hand signals can convey even complex ideas.

Tim Thompson, a project manager for AL-Morrell, and Dimick discussed the difficulties in building the facilities. Preparing the ground is the first step. Thompson works with a rock crushing operation that makes gravel for the base. The developers need to cover the ground with layers of gravel to avoid, as Dimick said, 'this fine Iraqi mud that we have over here."

Then the crews lay the foundation in cement. This is precision work because a separate company pre-fabricates the water bottling facility in Saudi Arabia and ships it in. If the footings are off by even an inch, the pieces of the building won't fit.

About a third of the building has already arrived and once the crew lays the foundations, the facility will start to take shape, said Frank Knodel, a training manager for AL-Morrell.

"We hope to be up and running by May," Knodel said. However, he added that scarcity of materials might delay the opening a bit.

Knodel said he feels good about setting up water bottling plants because "it saves room in the convoys for things that are more important and it costs less to manufacture it on base, than to buy it."

• Date Taken: 04.14.2006
• Date Posted: 04.14.2006 10:54
• Story ID: 6023
• Location: AL ASAD, IQ