Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Eric Shadowens | The 401st Civil Affaris Battalion in cooperation with the Non Government Organization...... read more read more
DAHUK, Iraq - Soldiers with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion in Dahuk, Iraq have found an alternative way for residents to drink clean water in the village of Bendaway.
A creek running through a small village in northern Iraq is the only natural source of drinking water for the residents who live there.
"We are surrounded by agriculture here," said John Anderson. "There are chemicals that run into it, pesticides, fertilizers; everything is in this water,"
According to Anderson who works for a non government organization Concern for Kids, has seen first hand the effects of tainted water.
"This village lost 10 children in June 2003, from drinking sewer water out of the stream, because there was no other water," Anderson said.
The NGO in conjunction with the 401st CA Bn., are testing a space aged portable water filtering and purification system that was originally designed for NASA, which models after the space shuttle water recycling system.
"We use the same technology, with a little different configuration," Anderson said.
Captain Steven Hayden, 401st CA Bn, said that the portable water system being tested costs just under $10,000 and believes it can be the short term solution for the water problem.
"There are about 300 villages in northern Iraq that don't have potable drinking water," Hayden said.
"If you were able to put storage tanks in these villages, next to a creek," Hayden said. "Someone could come out once a week and fill the tanks up; it would have a phenomenal impact."
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2006 10:01 |
| Story ID: | 6215 |
| Location: | DOHUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 122 |
This work, Space age drinking water system tested, by SGT Dennis Gravelle, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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