Visitors to the corner of Crescent and Sumner avenues got a first-hand look at a bit of high technology that has the potential to help alleviate Catalina’s pressing water needs.
PureSafe Water Systems, an environmental engineering company based in Plainview, NY, gave demonstrations of their mobile water purification and desalination “First Response Unit” last Friday and Saturday.
Using a variety of different water purification processes, the units can produce up to 30,000 gallons of fresh water per day from fresh water sources.
Visitors to the corner of Crescent and Sumner avenues got a first-hand look at a bit of high technology that has the potential to help alleviate Catalina’s pressing water needs.
PureSafe Water Systems, an environmental engineering company based in Plainview, NY, gave demonstrations of their mobile water purification and desalination “First Response Unit” last Friday and Saturday.
Using a variety of different water purification processes, the units can produce up to 30,000 gallons of fresh water per day from fresh water sources.
In terms of desalination, which would be of greater interest in locations such as Catalina, the units can turn approximately 30,000 gallons of seawater into about 15,000 gallons of freshwater.
But the “slow-motion disaster” of California’s current extreme drought is only part of the equation.
According to PureWater’s sales representative Laurenz Peschke, the units are also ideal for emergency situations, such as what could occur following a major earthquake and the resulting possible shutdown of Avalon’s plumbing system.
Such a scenario could have the potential of leaving thousands of people on the island without fresh water for an undetermined amount of time, depending on the scale of the disaster. Given the possibility that mainland resources would be overwhelmed in such a disaster, such an Island-based source of fresh water could literally be a life saver.
One of the unique features of PureWater’s mobile unit is that once purified, potable water can be dispensed by three different methods, including ½ liter bags provided by the unit itself, a water dispensing tap station (which can also disinfect the water container) as well as bulk hose transfer to a secondary storage unit.
For energy, the units utilize either 480 volt, 3-phase AC power or can be operated by means of a 75 kilowatt onboard diesel-powered generator.
