Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Osvaldo Sanchez | U.S. Army Reserve Pfc. Cornel Brownfield, a native of Greensburg, Pa., and water...... read more read more
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The 14th Quartermaster Company, based out of New Castle, Pa., was tasked to provide purified water.
Pfc. Cornel Brownfield, a native of Greensburg, Pa., and water treatment specialist assigned to the company, said they start in the water where they anchor a strainer three-feet below and a raw water pump pulls up and pushes the discharge to the raw water tank where it’s pushed to the purification unit.
“Welcome to my house,” said Brownfield jokingly while the machines hum all around him. “The raw water enters here and right on the other end is the box, which is the booster pump.”
Brownfield explained that the booster pump is housed inside the unit and pushes the water faster in through the strainers to break down the molecules and solids that the exterior strainer doesn’t trap. Then, the water is sent to a media filter; a series of 10 filters. Thereafter, a high-pressure pump pushes water through the final filtering device that separates the remaining solids and comes out the waste hose. Finally, the product water is then injected with hydrochloride.
These Soldiers use the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit to purify water. It can produce 60,000 gallons of water per day from fresh water and 40,000 gallons from sea water. Also, the unit can purify water from nuclear, biological, and chemical contamination. After purification, the water is transferred to another quartermaster unit to store and distribute it to the forward operating base.
Spc. Derrek Stoliker, a native of State College, Pa., and a mechanic assigned to the 401st Quartermaster Detachment, said, “We have our 600-gallon per minute pump and we have about a little over a mile of 6-inch hose connected to it. We keep an eye on our 20,000 gallon bag. Once it gets to about 5-foot tall we’ll distribute water out.”
He continued, “Our mission is to tactically distribute water from one point, which would be our water source, all the way to our forward operating base so that they can have water for the laundry unit, shower unit, and also for water buffalos so that all Soldiers around here can have water to keep hydrated.”
In 2012, the 14th Quartermaster Company deployed to New York City for a real-world mission in support of relief efforts during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
Stoliker said, “Soldiers pumped water out of subways because the subways didn’t have any power. Their pumps couldn’t work.”
He added, “We went through Brooklyn and other surrounding areas and we pumped a lot of water out of basements. Pumped a lot of surrounding water around houses just to get water out of that area out to the ocean.”
The Army Reserve’s current role in the homeland delivers vital capabilities to the lead federal agency in support of state and local authorities in times of natural and man-made disasters.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2016 14:10 |
| Story ID: | 201098 |
| Location: | FORT A.P. HILL, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | GREENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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