Water, water, everywhere: US, Tunisia work wonders to solve critical water issues

Back to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

VICENZA, Italy - "You're depleting our water" is not the comment U.S. partners want to hear from a host nation after an exercise, especially one experiencing a drought in Northern Africa. Unfortunately, African Lion exercise planners found themselves facing this issue from their Tunisian counterparts following the 2023 exercise (AL23).

The culprit was not long showers or manicured lawns, but rather the U.S. Department of Agriculture requirement to thoroughly clean all vehicles, containers and equipment prior to redeployment to the United States.

However, this incredibly important customs process is not the typical washrack operation coming out of the field. The process involves a white-glove inspection of every nook and cranny on the hunt for bits of dirt that may be harboring invasive plants or insects. This is similar to shipping a vehicle overseas for a permanent change of station (PCS), but during an exercise it involves much heavier vehicles such as tanks, high-mobility rocket systems (HIMARS) and others weighing in at over two tons.

"Every time we redeploy personnel and equipment from a deployment, we're required to follow certain procedures to ensure we don't accidentally bring back something harmful," said U.S. Army Master Sgt. Alba Alvarado, logistics planner with the 79th Theater Sustainment Command (79th TSC). "We do our best to conduct these operations without inconveniencing our partners, which requires a lot of coordination and flexibility."

As one can imagine, Army vehicles tend to have a lot of nooks and crannies, and the cleaning of single vehicle averages over two hours and utilizes over 600 gallons of water to wash away even a week's worth of tough desert training. Multiply that by eighty-plus vehicles, trailers and containers. The result is burning through thousands of gallons of fresh water solely for the final washrack operation.

To say the least, this is not a good look for the U.S. military, especially when operating in a lower-income desert environment. At AL23 in particular, it became a friction point with Tunisia, a key U.S. partner on the African continent.

"No matter how well the exercise went, if our host nation partners have concerns, we need to work to fix those immediately. That's what good partners do," said U.S. Army Capt. Logan Abraham, logistics planner with the 79th TSC.

Weeks later during a morning seaside run in Morocco, while staring out over the rolling waves of the vast Atlantic Ocean, a question was raised: "Why don't we just make our own water?"

The U.S. Army maintains an incredible capability to produce potable drinking water from nearly any source, extracting it from a dirty ditch or a salty sea. The Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU) and smaller Tactical Water Purification System (TWPS) reside within specialized quartermaster units deep within the US Army Reserves. They are purpose-built to produce over 50,000 gallons per hour in support of large-scale combat operations. This ability is often overlooked as exercise and mission planners consider these units as "overqualified" in favor of the ever-present bottled water solution.

During the last few miles of the run, a tentative plan was formed. Planners would formally request participation of a water purification unit for Tunisia during African Lion 2024 (AL24). Their task would be to produce over 200,000 gallons of fresh water from the salty Mediterranean Sea in direct support of washrack operations.

"This was the first time a water purification unit would take part in the exercise," said U.S. Army Maj. Jay Jackson, the lead Tunisia exercise planner with U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF). "It was a historic, much-needed addition, not only to train our capabilities, but also to strengthen our partnership with the Tunisians."

The plan needed to be specific: No local fresh water or municipal sources would be utilized, and the operation needed to be completely transparent and evident to the host nation. Locals who had previously experienced depleted water sources should see for themselves that water was being extracted directly from the sea. The optics needed to be clear.

SETAF-AF requested the capability, the 79th TSC provided the unit, and the 651st Quartermaster Company (651st QM Co.) arrived in the seaport of Gabes, Tunisia in April 2024, less than a year from the initial conception.

The unit arrived with both ROWPU and TWPS capabilities following months of planning efforts and site surveys with Tunisian Armed Forces (TuAF) partners. Together, they had identified a suitable location offering the best combination of sea access, security and proximity to washrack operations.

The 651st QM Co. arrived trained and ready, operating nearly autonomously in a difficult industrial port location known for chemical production and breakbulk shipping. In an area where local authorities advise people not to eat the local fish, the purification unit produced water that passed both Tunisian laboratory and U.S. preventive medicine tests for quality. The produced water was so good that when a contractor's water source had contamination issues during the exercise, the 651st QM Co. stepped in to provide daily bulk water to ensure the continued availability of a dining facility and hot meals in the training area for over ten days.

"It's a no-fail mission," said U.S. Army 1st Lt. David Sneed, company commander of the 651st QM Co., based in Evansville, Wyoming. "No matter the challenges, we have to produce clean, drinkable water or soldiers and the mission are at risk."

The shift to the port for water production had a positive ripple effect of also moving the wash operation from a military facility nearly an hour away to a closer location in the Gabes seaport. The washrack site consisted of commercial agricultural water tanks, pressure washers and generators, as well as two flatbed trailers with ramps to facilitate undercarriage washing. Now located around 500 meters from the water production location, the TuAF supported continuous transfer of bulk water with two large tank trucks. They diligently made trips back and forth to keep the four 5,000-liter (approximately 1,300 gallons) containers topped off for over a week of washrack operations.

Additionally, the TuAF seized the opportunity to integrate their own water purification element, sending fifteen soldiers to work and train side-by-side with the 651st QM Co. soldiers for over twenty days. In the future, the TuAF plan a more active role, utilizing their water purification capabilities to support the water mission.

The washrack operation was ultimately successful, due in no small part to the creative use of a critical, often overlooked, sustainment enabler. The quartermaster unit gained invaluable real-world experience supporting a critical mission in a challenging and unique location. The Tunisian and U.S. Armed Forces gained a new training and collaboration effort, with opportunities to expand participation beyond the combat arms realm.

"As AL24 ended in Tunisia, the after-action review, as always, identified new challenges and areas to improve," said U.S. Army Maj. Travis Michelena, logistics planner with the 79th TSC. "But for this year at least, water usage found itself in the 'sustain' column."

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