FILMTEC Membranes Purify Water for Katrina Victims
The cruel irony following the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina was that the lack of drinkable water became one of the greatest threats to human health.
Biloxi, Mississippi, experienced a 30-foot storm surge, the highest ever recorded in the United States. Yet, despite water flowing everywhere, the hurricane damaged municipal water supplies leaving very little water to drink.
In response to this unfolding crisis, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research turned to mobile desalination units that use innovative technology developed by The Dow Chemical Company to help convert undrinkable saltwater from the Mississippi Sound to healthy freshwater suitable for human consumption.
The Navy deployed two of these units, which were run by the Bureau of Reclamations, to purify water from the ocean inlet and pump it to communities in need. Each unit contains FILMTEC™ reverse osmosis membranes from Dow. FILMTEC membranes consist of three separate layers that filter and refine water, removing harmful contaminants and ensuring needed nutrients and minerals remain. The unique, high productivity of FILMTEC membranes coupled with the high efficiency designs (patent pending) enables these units to be compact and portable, so they can be deployed quickly, and be capable of producing as much as 125,000 gallons of valuable water per day.
One of these units was set up on the beach of the Mississippi Sound in Biloxi to provide potable water to the six-story Biloxi Regional Medical Center located nearby. Not only did the unit provide enough water for patients and staff helping to ease the suffering caused by one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history, it also met the Center’s high water quality standards.
Living. Improved daily.
