The U.S. Navy has purchased a mobile and self-contained wastewater treatment and recycling system for the San Diego-based Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operations. Global Water Group claims it is the "greenest" wastewater system that produces high-quality drinking water.
The transportable 8-ft. container, touted as a prototype for future military systems, will be used by the Navy to recycle water for maintenance and toilets.
However, Global Water says the recycled water is comparable in purity and taste to natural spring water and will exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's potable drinking standards including NSF-Standard 53. It also has "zero environmental problems."
Global Water believes that wastewater recycling will become an important part of water conservation, and its modular and scalable system can also be used as a prototype for future municipal systems.
The wastewater system uses an aerobic biological treatment process called, "extended aeration activated sludge," created more than 30 years ago, but Global has made improvements to the process that eliminates sludge and cuts the processing time in half.
Here's how it works: The effluent from the wastewater treatment unit flows into the recycling component, which removes remaining suspended solids down to 5-microns and recycles them back to the digestive process of the wastewater treatment.
All remaining effluent is processed through Global's proprietary LS3 water purification component that removes all parasites and hazardous chemicals. An ultra-violet light removes all remaining bacteria and viruses.