NRF water purification unit operational at Baia das Gatas.

Sao Vicente (Cape Verde), 4th June 2006.

The deployment of NATO forces for the NRF-exercise Steadfast Jaguar is speeding up. Although arrangements have been made to provide the troops with bottled water in bulk on a daily basis, the NRF-land has deployed its Hungarian water purification unit directly at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, near the village of Baia das Gatas.

Pumps lead the water directly into special machines, which clean the seawater. With its two purification sections consisting in total of 38 military the well-equipped unit is able to operate continuously. The potable water output comes to 2.8 m³ per hour. After several checks, this water can be stored in 6 elastic water storage tanks ready for packing. Then the packing machine is to be used. With this equipment the unit is able to pack water in 0,5 or 1litre plastic bags.

The water purification platoon already started to provide water to the NRF-deployed units for showers and other sanitary use in the Pentecost weekend. And if the provision of bottled water in bulk would fall short, the purification unit can provide potable water extracted from seawater on the spot. This makes the Hungarian water purification unit a key element to NRF-sustainment.

 

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