Photo By Staff Sgt. Mike Hagburg | Spc. Dustyn Vasfaret, Fargo, carries cases of drinking water into the Valley City...... read more read more
VALLEY CITY, N.D. - When the sanitary sewer system failed in Valley City on April 17, the North Dakota Army National Guard immediately cut off water use in its facilities.
Within 15 minutes, the Guard was working to set up alternative sanitation and water supply facilities, said 2nd Lt. Kayla Gartner, the officer in charge of the 814th Medical Company's aid station in Valley City.
"If the city says don't use water, don't use the sewer - we lead the way on that," said Lt. Col. Lee Nordin, 231st Maneuver Task Force commander. "We are fully supporting Valley City in its water conservation measures."
The Guard closed down all of the bathrooms in its facilities and is relying on portable toilets. The city government brought in 175 portable toilets on April 17 and used the Guard armory as a staging point for distributing them through town.
Meanwhile, the Guard set up self-contained hand washing stations at the armory and its other facilities and distributed hand sanitizer to troops working on the dikes, Gartner said.
"We now have portable showers up and running and we are considering bringing in water trucks to provide more water for washing," Gartner said on April 18.
Gartner said the Guard had substantial supplies of drinking water on hand.
In the dining facility, the 231st's cooks reacted immediately to the water and sewer cutoff.
"We had to change the menu a bit," said Sgt. 1st Class Allen Kupitz, the 231st's food operations sergeant. "We were going to do chicken, which presents more contamination problems, so we switched to hot roast beef sandwiches."
By April 18, the cooks had set up a portable stainless steel field sanitation center in the kitchen.
"There's one sink for washing, one for rinsing and one for sanitizing," Kupitz said. "We can empty the gray water into buckets and carry it out."
Kupitz said using paper plates and plastic eating utensils has cut down the amount of washing the cooks need to do.
Gartner said that Soldiers who have deployed learn how to deal without having running water and have been able to use those lessons in Valley City.
"It's amazing how you don't think about everything you need water for," she said.
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.18.2009 17:52 |
| Story ID: | 32551 |
| Location: | VALLEY CITY, US |
| Web Views: | 252 |
| Downloads: | 224 |
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