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Relief Efforts Save ‘Countless Lives’
Author(s) -
Chaney Kirby
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
opflow
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1551-8701
pISSN - 0149-8029
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8701.2005.tb02723.x
Subject(s) - relocation , unit (ring theory) , potable water , gallon (us) , crew , waste management , water treatment , environmental engineering , engineering , environmental science , environmental planning , civil engineering , environmental protection , aeronautics , mathematics education , mathematics , computer science , programming language
This article reports on relief efforts for the surviving residents of Banda Aceh after the 2004 Tsunami. As a pro bono contribution to the people of Indonesia, four full‐time water treatment professionals from CH2M HILL and OMI were sent to the area to operate a GE Infrastructure‐donated mobile water treatment unit for four months. Each two‐man crew spent two months in Banda Aceh operating and maintaining the plant, distributing water, directing local utility employees, and training local operators to continue the operation. The entire treatment plant was contained in two semitrailers and consisted of five dual‐media pressure filters with chemical conditioning for pretreatment and a reverse osmosis system to remove dissolved solids and organic pollutants. On a typical day, the treatment unit produced 125,000 gallons of potable water and loaded as many as 90 trucks that hauled the water to displaced person camps and barracks‐style relocation camps that were built to replace tent shelters. Additionally, hundreds of people came to the plant each day to fill water bottles and jugs for their own use.