Wolfhounds, GoI Bring Water Back
By Staff Sgt. J.B. Jaso III, 1-27 INF, 2/25 SBCT
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Just over a year ago, residents in the East Anbar province had potable drinking water, but terrorists destroyed the main source of potable water in an attack on a nearby school.
“The CWTU (Compact Water Treatment Unit) was originally built by the Army Corps of Engineers,” said Capt. Brian Sweigart, a San Antonio native, and embedded Local Reconstruction Team leader for 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment “Wolfhounds,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad. “The day it opened-up in June 2007, terrorists blew-up the school next to it, which caused severe damage (to the CWTU).”
The $2 million-project was disabled, cutting off water supply to more than 10,000 residents. Residents were left without the most essential human need.
When the Wolfhounds arrived in January, Sweigart’s embedded Local Reconstruction Team quickly identified the CWTU as one of their main priorities and sought out funding options to bring water back to the people.
Iraqi Commander’s Emergency Relief Program funding was awarded to not only repair the damaged CWTU, but to extend the water network to over 12,000 residents.
“The further away from the main line residents are, the harder it is to get potable drinking water,” Sweigart said on the importance of the extension of the water network. “Once the CWTU is working at its full capacity, it will be able to provide potable water to over 12,000 people a day.”
Each pump will generate 200-liters of potable water an hour, said 1st Lt. Erik Wiesenhan, a Canby, Ore., native, and the essential services coordinator for the Wolfhound eLRT.
“There are two pumps, and once they are fully operational they will be pumping 400-liters of water an hour together. That will allow us to extend the water to additional villages in the area,” he said.
Wolfhounds toured the CWTU, July 22, 2008, to check on repairs made in the first month of the project.
Water is now pumping into the storage tanks, and government of Iraq officials will visit the site and inspect progress, and the project will continue.
Half of the CWTU is now operational and workers are now laying the pipes to extend the network. Funding is now approved for the second part of the CWTU to be fixed.
“Over 12,000 human beings were not receiving water because of a war that was going on around them,” Sweigart said. “There was destruction and things being blown-up around them, and people are suffering because of it. It is the basic human nature to help people like this. We’ve been able to provide a sustainable service that the government and people of Iraq want and need.”
