Water Purification Blues?

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I have not found an article on this yet but,according to CBC radio news, the military has 10 of its 22 purifiers down right now because of a maintenance dispute with the company that made them ,... with the help of govt. money. From what I understood they take a lot of maintenance when they come back from use and the govt. started putting the tender up for bid, and another company won but now the original company is suing as it says the manuals are their property.......so now one would assume when the DART team comes back, all the machines they are using right now will be in the same boat............*looking for updates*....

 

[McG]

We don't have that many of the ROWPU.  Must be the mini-ROWPU. 

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Since I knew nothing of these units I snipped something here for those in the same boat,
...taken from......http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-column1.htm

The   security   component   of   DART   will   be   needed to protect   the large   ROWPUs. Such an advanced water purification unit would be a valuable prize for any leader of a militant   group   trying   to   win   the   hearts   and   minds   of   local   Sri   Lankans.

There is a theoretical efficiency to having a large, centralized source of water with an output that is absolutely pure, and a flow-rate of tens of thousands of litres per day. Such a unit would make most sense if it were to be set up in downtown London, Ont.

For the current purposes,   however,   we must take other   factors into consideration. DART's   initial   deployment   required   two of the largest cargo planes on the planet. The ROWPU components must be housed in ISO containers â “ the 20-foot long steel shipping boxes more commonly seen being hauled by a train, rather than by a truck.

Trucks must haul their technologically vulnerable cargo over inadequate roads.   Then, after   each large   ROWPU
is set up, it requires three technicians to keep it running. The CF also uses the so-called Mini-ROWPU which can be broken down   into three separate loads   for   shipping. The volume of water processed by Mini-ROWPU is less than a large ROWPU but, once set up, the Mini-ROWPU require only a single water technician to keep it working.

In view of the difficulties of deploying 'full sized' ROWPU, the trade-off of a reduced output from Mini-ROWPU seems acceptable. If larger numbers of the Mini-ROWPU made up the DART water purification component, greater flexibility in both shipping and 'in-country' location could be realized. Each smaller unit could be set up and left with one qualified technician and a CF security team to protect the installation. Then the   rest   of   the   convoy could move on to the   next   logical   location,   set up another Mini-ROWPU,   and so on.   Transport   problems   (and scale)   could be reduced   while the requirements   for qualified   water   treatment   technicians would   remain   the same.

In the long run, Canadian personnel (either CF or CIDA) could train local technicians to maintain the Mini-ROWPU which could be left in place. Who knows?   It could act as an incentive to order more Mini-ROWPUs   from   Canadian industry   for the future. The whole world needs water. There is a long-term market for ROWPU technologies.

...EDIT..and here is the company alledgedly suing the Govt.
http://www.zenon.com/markets/military_minirowpu.shtml

 

[043]

Zenon is a good company who used to work hand in hand with the Military.  As a former Water Boy, I know first hand that if there was an issue, Zenon was on it right away. Obviously someone has pissed in someones cornflakes. But I am sure we will get by without Zenon.

As for there being 22 in service. That is entirely possible. I think 2 CER has 2 units.

The Rowpu's are like any mechanical piece of equipment. If they sit idle, they will not work properly for sustained periods. I know in 2 CER the Rowpu's are rarely used......Res Tp doesn't have the pers or qual'd pers to operate them.  That goes for a lot of things in Res Tp. Most of the kit is junk because there is no one to maintain it.

"Engineers do more with Less"

Chimo!

 

[Marty]

Out of curiiosity how many peole does it take to operate one of these things?

 

[043]

It is situationally dependant. Ideally 4 pers however you can get away with 2. If you are running 24/7 you need 4 pers.

CHIMO

 

[big_johnson1]

I know 4 AES in Cold Lake has 5 of the newer SUWPS (Sub-Unit Water Purification System), 2 boxed up ready to go (minus filters of course), 1 set aside for training for Level 2 in Cold Lake, 1 at 192 AEF in Abbotsford (last I checked in the summer anyways), and 1 set aside for spare parts. And it takes two people to operate (no problem setting up or running one of the SUWPS with two people, although running for a long time you'd obviously want additional pers). This could have changed since summer 04 but I don't know.

 

[Rushrules]

Millipore makes these Units at a fraction of the price, and can be sent anywhere in the world.  Most of these Units are automated, and just requires a technician to change filters every once in a while.  I suppose puitting the made in Canada label on something is more important than saving $$. 

The so-called NBCW agent remover is just RO with carbon pre-filters, nothing special there.

 

[sdimock]

I have setup and maintained RO's in my civilian job and I'm curious about the two different ROWPU's.

I hope someone who knows wouldn't mind answering a few questions I have about the units.

What size and how many RO membranes are in the full size and mini units?
What are the power requirements of the units and pumps in particular?
Does each of these units come with it's own power generator and is that part of the main container?
How can raw water be delivered to the unit and what are the minimum flow/pressure requirements?
Can it draft to itself from a standing body of water?
Does it use large fiberglass sand prefilter/carbon tanks or filter cartridges?
Is recirculation of the RO reject water back into the filtered raw water side used on the single pass system?
How is the chlorine added?
What kind of spare items are brought along compared to what is counted on being delivered later?

Thanks,

Chimo

 

[sdimock]

I didn't think this information would be classified but I suppose letting everybody and there dog know to many details is not a good idea.

If it's ok to let me know, PM me, if not, oh well, I'll have to wait till I can get the course.

Chimo