US SOF considers new water purifier
The Sustainment and Distribution Company of the US Army’s 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is trialling a new water purification system, the army announced on 10 August.
The Aspen 5500M is a small and portable water purification system designed for SOF elements that operate in independent small teams without access to larger, brigade-level water systems.
The fits in two storage boxes, making it much smaller and more portable than the large shipping container-sized Tactical Water Purification System (TWPS) which is used at the brigade level. It can be set up and ready to operate in about 15 minutes, with output of 1500-2000 gallons of water a day, which is enough to support a 12-man Operational Detachment-Alpha.
The Aspen uses no chemicals in its water purification process. Instead, it passes water through a series of filters before using ultra-violet light to sterilize the water.
This also makes it cheaper to run than the larger TWPS, which pumps out 1,500 gallons of clean water per hour, but relies on chemicals to purify the water.
The army is considering whether to make the Aspen 5500M an SOF standard when it comes to water treatment.
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