As the threat of more frequent storms and natural disasters persists in Canada’s changing climate, one company headquartered in British Columbia has created a mobile water distribution station to help municipalities provide safe, treated drinking water in the middle of an emergency where infrastructure may be crippled.
SCG Process says its water distribution stations are essentially miniature water treatment plants housed in trailers. During a crisis that may prevent residents from using typical drinking water access, the station can provide water filtration of nearby lakes and rivers in situations or locations where the local water distribution infrastructure is damaged or unavailable. The mobile station can also be connected to fire hydrants, water towers or water tankers to provide automated chlorine residual dosing and water filling stations that can dispense 10,000 reusable water bags to large crowds, while also accommodating manual filling of any size water container.
“More powerful and more frequent storms, natural disasters, and infrastructure-crippling emergencies are driving the need for a new generation of solutions to help mitigate risk for utilities,” explained James Davis, VP of sales and marketing at SCG Process, in a statement.
The mobile Emergency Water Distribution Units were scoped and constructed in close collaboration with expert municipal emergency response teams. SCG Process officials said they see the product helping to “create a visible and recognizable element of public outreach campaigns, community disaster-plan drills, and preparedness events.”
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From a technical standpoint, the water stations consist of an onboard generator, water-feed suction pumps, hoses, and a bladder tank for external water storage prior to public water distribution. Filtration, chemical dosing, and sensors are provided with a standard 3-micron cartridge upgradeable filter system.
The public-access sides of the units are designed to accommodate public “bag fill,” featuring multiple push-button/auto shut-off spigot stations dispensing precisely five litres of water.
SCG Process also provides a stationary Emergency Water Distribution Unit version based on a modified intermodal shipping container. This version provides more interior space and filling stations than the mobile version.
