Army seeks water recycling system for Afghanistan outposts

Hauling water to forward operating bases in Afghanistan accounts for "a substantial percentage of the logistics support convoys" in that country and the Army wants to reduce that load by developing a grey water recycling system.

In a contract notice released Tuesday, service leaders said they want to recover and reuse 75 percent of the water at platoon and company forward operating bases.

The Army said a 50-person platoon-sized forward operating base uses 1,600 gallons of water per day and generates 1,500 gallons of grey water -- the wastewater that results from laundry, bathing and other such uses. A 150 person company-sized forward operating base uses 5,000 gallons of water a day, producing 4,500 gallons of grey water. The military has to remove that waste in convoys.

"Reducing water demand, by treating gray water and reclaiming potable water, is needed to reduce the number of convoys necessary to bring in potable water and remove gray water," the Army said.

The service wants to acquire a low-maintenance, pallet-mounted grey water system that weighs less than 7,110 pounds in a project valued at $1.75 million over two years. The Army wants a system that can be set up in four hours, be run by a soldier after one week of training and can operate up to three days unattended.

Since convoys are also used to haul fuel, the Army said it would like a system that can run on alternative energy sources, though that is not a requirement. Fuel convoys account for 80 percent of all supply convoys into landlocked Afghanistan. The convoys make attractive targets for insurgents, resulting in casualties rates of one in 46 convoys, according to a September report by the Pew Charitable Trusts Clean Energy Program.

Will Kirksey, global development officer for Living Machine Systems, a wastewater treatment company that has a contract for an innovative sewage treatment system at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, said the Army's requirements pose a real challenge for anyone in the grey water industry.

The requirement to recover 75 percent of the grey water and make it potable "is a stretch for anybody," Kirksey said.

One way to meet that requirement, Kirksey said, is to treat the water at high pressure, an approach that will require more fuel. He said Living Machines has a grey water system called Hydrosecure -- originally developed for use at embassies -- that could meet the Army's weight requirements and possibly its treatment requirements if the recovery threshold was scaled back.

Art Ludwig, an ecological consultant in Santa Barbara, Calif., who runs Oasis Design, which emphasizes grey water use, said the Army needs to keep its grey water re-use plan simple and realize that one design does not fit all locations. He suggested the Army focus on cutting water use at base camps along with re-use.

Bids are due Jan. 9, 2012.