Guard Soldiers keep water running on FOB Normandy

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mark Wojciechowski | Spc. Craig Naputi Quinata primes the raw water pump that draws water from a canal near Muqdadiyah, Iraq.  

MUQDADIYA, IRAQ

03.07.2006

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Mark Wojciechowski 

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq (February 17, 2006) " There is plenty of bottled water for drinking in and around Iraq, but water used for other things, such as showering and washing clothes, needs to be tested and treated by a water purification specialist.

Specialist Craig Naputi Quinata and Spc. Arthur Relech are water purification specialists in the Guam Army National Guard's 909th Quartermaster Detachment. They are the only water purification specialists at Forward Operating Base Normandy.

Attached to the Ohio Army National Guard's 644th Quartermaster Detachment, the two Soldiers arrived to Iraq in November 2005.

The team maintains the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification System. They purify the water in FOB Normandy, to include the Iraqi Army section of the base.

"We make sure all of our ROWPUs are in good condition and we do our checks to make sure we add the necessary chemicals so they can use water we produce," Relech said.

"Where we come from, we mainly produce water from off the ocean, which means more maintenance on the ROWPU. Here, it is fresh water, so there is not as much maintenance," Quinata explained.

The two Soldiers hail from the village of Inarajan in Guam. Quinata is married and is the father of a one-year-old boy and four-year-old girl. Relech is also married and is the father of a four-year-old daughter.

• Date Taken: 03.07.2006
• Date Posted: 03.07.2006 08:14
• Story ID: 5621
• Location: MUQDADIYA, IQ