Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Dickson | Alabama Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Veronica O'Neal opens the door to the HIPPO...... read more read more
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PRICE BARRACKS, Belize -- Alabama Army National Guard Soldiers have been working around the clock to purify and deliver potable water to servicemembers participating in Operation Tradewinds 2022 on Price Barracks, Belize in May 2022.
Sgt. 1st Class Veronica O’Neal and 16 other Soldiers from the 1208th Quartermaster Company traveled to Belize to use the Tactical Water Purification System (TWPS) to deliver over 17,000 gallons of water in the first 8 days to U.S. servicemembers and partner nations across many different training sites.
Once purified and tested, the Soldiers fill a 2,000-gallon Load Handling System Compatible Water Tank Rack (HIPPO) for delivery. The potable water is used for cooking meals, personal hygiene, and drinking, especially at one of the more remote locations in the exercise.
This is the first time the 1208th has taken the TWPS out of state for an exercise.
“This equipment, we have had it for years but never took it out of the state of Alabama or on annual training,” said O’Neal. “This is the first time our unit has done a mission with this particular equipment.”
Some of that reasoning is because they normally deploy a Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU) system. The ROWPU can purify 3,000 gallons while the TWPS can purify 1,500.
The TWPS cleans water using several different stages of purification; the first stage involves letting the drawn water sit in a large bag so all sediments can settle.
“We then pull water from the source and the water goes through screens and filters,” said Sgt. Shawn Phillips, a quartermaster and chemical equipment repairer for the 1208th. “Next it goes into reverse osmosis, and then we add chlorine and other chemicals in order to get it ready to drink.”
In addition to purifying the water, they also are responsible for transporting the water. To be able to safely do that, the HIPPO must be filled to near capacity to prevent the water load shifting while traveling.
“Anyone that has delivered high loads of liquids knows these types of trucks cannot stop on a dime,” said O’Neal.
According to O’Neal, the 1208th has had to increase their deliveries by double since being in Belize.
First they were going to deliver one HIPPO a day but they found that the need was for double that. They also found that one of their HIPPO tanks was damaged during transport to Belize.
The 1208th brought four transportable water tanks with them but now they are down to three. However, through multiple deliveries, they are still able to keep up with the needs of our partners.
“Coming here, getting the equipment here, seeing the equipment do what it was made to do, and seeing the Soldiers get to do their job has been a great accomplishment for this unit,” said O’Neal. “It was tough getting here, to get the equipment set up and ready to work. But to actually see my Soldiers doing what they are trained to do and being very productive at it, it’s great to see.”
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.13.2022 17:30 |
| Story ID: | 420719 |
| Location: | PRICE BARRACKS, BZ |
| Web Views: | 315 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 1208th Quartermaster hydrates partner nations, by SFC Andrew Dickson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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