How the Military Drives Innovation in Wastewater Treatment and Water Technology

In honor of Memorial Day and the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, we would like to take a look at the critical role the military plays in water technology and water innovation.
 
The military’s can-do, get-things-done attitude is reflected here at AWWT. Academic research in water technology gets lots and lots of funding, but very rarely produces results that can be put into use in any feasible way. AWWT, like the military, is committed to meeting real and immediate needs: improving wastewater treatment methods, increasing water reuse, and protecting the environment.
 
Today we’ll look at the U.S. military’s contributions to improving water technology, water purification, and our water supply.
 
Water Technology: Department of Defense
 
Water is an essential resource, needed both for the health and the security of our country, so it makes sense that the Department of Defense (DoD) is actively engaged in increasing efficiency in wastewater treatment and increasing water reuse capacity. The DoD uses around 90 billion gallons of water a year. That’s a lot of water. In typical military fashion, the DoD has decided to charge forward and lead by example.
 
They set the ambitious goal of reducing their use of potable water by 36% between 2007 and 2015. To reach their goals, they’ve been hard at work. A project completed in 2014 produced a new system for the treatment of drinking water contaminated with nitrate. It was implemented in the Cucamonga Valley Water District in California.
 
Another project still in the research phase is the Hybrid Microbial Fuel Cell-Biofiltration System for Energy-Neutral Wastewater Treatment, which integrates microbial fuel cell (MFC) and biofilter (BF) technologies. The goal is to create new efficiencies at every stage of the treatment lifecycle: treatment, production, and conveyance. Given the DoD’s success in many wastewater treatment innovations, we expect the project to produce some remarkable results.
 
Water Purification: U.S. Army Medical School
 
Our military has operated in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth, from the disease-ridden jungles of the South Pacific to the deserts of North Africa. In any circumstance, clean water is always a necessity. It’s said that an army marches on its stomach. Without food and water, an army is all but useless. While a soldier can go two days without food and merely become less effective, a soldier going two days without water could die. Oftentimes, soldiers have found that there is ample water around (in shell holes, streams, or lakes), but none of it is safe to drink. The most common form of water treatment, boiling, is often unfeasible.
 
During WWI, the only convenient way for soldiers to boil water was by making a campfire. Besides the fact that wood was scarce, making a campfire meant creating lots of smoke and potentially giving away their position to the enemy.
 
Major Carl Rogers Darnell, a Professor of Chemistry at the U.S. Army Medical School came up with a solution, designing the first ever water filter to be used in the field. Another soldier came up with a 36-gallon bag to which the filters could be attached. In addition to the filter, the soldiers would add a small amount of chlorine or bleach to the water. By World War II, the U.S. Army had developed iodine-based tablets that gave individual soldiers the ability to purify their water. Today, these iodine tablets have become life savers in third-world countries and disaster zones.
 
Water Supply: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) is a major Army command with over 37,000 civilian and military personnel. Besides constructing locks, dams and canals, to reduce flooding risks and improve navigation, they also help to ensure the country’s drinking supply. Today, CoE reservoirs provide over 10 million people in 115 cities across the country with water.