The German Government has set up a nation-wide network of emergency water treatment facilities with the purchase of eight new, highly mobile water treatment plant systems.

The National Procurement Office of the German Federal Interior Ministry has ordered the eight new water treatment plants from water technology company Berkefeld for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in order to ensure drinking water supplies in emergencies.

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.

THW’s aim 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. THW will act 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. The ceramic membrane is structured as a monolith block and therefore is especially stable. In addition, disinfection with ultraviolet light and 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.

The modular concept means the 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 plants, which treat well water and all types of surface water, are suitable for missions to relieve environmental disasters and refugee situations, as part of military operations and for municipal emergency water supply. The Berkefeld plants will be delivered to the THW within one year.