04/07/2011 - Celle/ GermanyDownload Pressetext [Worddokument]
THW to receive eight transportable water treatment plants from Berkefeld
Highly-mobile systems with ceramic ultrafiltration for emergency supply
24 March 2011 - For missions to ensure drinking water supply in emergencies, the National Procurement Office of the German Federal Interior Ministry has ordered eight new water treatment plants from water technology company Berkefeld for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). The THW water treatment specialist groups are to be equipped with the type TWA 15 UF transportable systems. Berkefeld, part of the Veolia water technology arm, developed the plants in close cooperation with the THW. The modular, highly-mobile systems encompass various modern process technologies which can be combined with each other depending on the water quality available on-site. Berkefeld supplied the THW with two comparable systems in 2007 which have proved successful in several emergency missions since then.
The aim of the THW with this procurement is to equip its drinking water specialist groups with state-of-the-art technology. The plants will provide the agency with a Germany-wide network of water treatment facilities which also fulfil the German Drinking Water Regulations. This means the plants are approved not only for disaster relief worldwide but also for emergency municipal water supply in Germany. The THWthus offers itself as a partner of the German drinking water suppliers for planned or unforeseen cases of temporary emergency supply. Depending on the combination of the process steps, a TWA 15 UF system provides up to 15 cubic metres of clean drinking water per hour and can if the water is fed into the grid supply up to about 2,400 inhabitants, or about 18,000 if it is distributed in canisters. The plant's core component is a highly-effective ceramic ultrafiltration membrane with a pore width of 0.1 μm by which viruses and germs are reliably removed from the water. This ceramic membrane is structured as a monolith block and therefore is especially stable. In addition, a disinfection with ultraviolet light and a chlorination for storaging ensure safe drinking water quality. Upstream are a flocculation and adsorption unit as well as pre-filtration with automatically back-washable disc filters. The system also includes a storage unit for 40m3 of drinking water and a distribution and sludge disposal module.
Due to the modular concept, these water treatment plants can be transported to the site in commercial aircraft and trucks, erected without great effort and quickly put into operation. The predominantly automatic control and the reduced need for chemicals ease the effort of the aid workers on-site.
The Berkefeld plants, which treat well water and all types of surface water in sweet water quality, are suitable for missions to relieve environmental disasters and refugee situations, as part of military operations and for municipal emergency water supply. The plants are to be delivered to the THW within one year.
More at www.berkefeld.de
Picture 1
Berkefeld is to supply eight TWA 15 UF water treatment plants to the THW. The systems are suitable for operations to relieve natural disasters and for municipal emergency water supply. The core component is a ceramic ultrafiltration. (Picture: Berkefeld VWS)
Picture 2:
Two comparable plants have already been used successfully by the THW drinking water specialists in several operations of municipal emergency water supply in Germany. (Picture: THW)
