InfraStructures - April 2011 - New Zealand Military Deploys Pall Water System to Quake Damaged Communities

New Zealand Military Deploys
Pall Water System to Quake Damaged Communities

A Pall Corporation mobile water treatment system produced clean drinking water for New Zealand communities damaged by the recent earthquake. The filtration equipment, owned and operated by the New Zealand Military, was deployed as part of its humanitarian efforts to convert drinking water from sea water for residents of Brighton, Lyttleton and Christchurch after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake disrupted the municipal water system. A Pall WTS40 system provided 40,000 l/d for area residents.

The WTS40 system is capable of producing drinking water from almost any raw water source within hours after delivery. Using state-of-the-art hollow fiber and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technologies, the systems desalinate sea water and transform it into water that is free from harmful bacteria, cysts, and particles. Requiring minimal manpower for operation and maintenance, they enable municipalities, military units and ships at sea to boost water production on a permanent or temporary basis.

The WTS40 system used in New Zealand incorporated Pall Aria™ microfiltration membranes for pre-filtration and Disc Tube™ reverse osmosis membranes for desalination. Designed to NATO defence standard 00-35, the robust system is housed in two 3 m ISO containers and is shock and vibration qualified for transportation by land, sea or air.

Pall is currently developing the next generation of high-performance, small footprint, skid-mounted systems based on the successful Pall Aria AT series. The new WTS is capable of making water anywhere at pre-engineered flow rates and is mounted in a container for maximum portability.

Source: Pall Corporation