Analysis and design of a water purification system for the West African Area of Operation

Abstract

The borehole water system (BWS) in West Africa has capability gaps in the area of detection and monitoring of chemical compounds, filtration, and disinfection of potable water. As a result, there is not enough potable water in West Africa to support a large-scale U.S. forces operation. This research focuses on the analysis of BWS and its ability to deliver potable water to meet U.S. standards in West Africa. The intent of this research is to design and test a feasible and cost-effective prototype of a purification system to the BWS for improved capability. This study uses a design-based and analytic research method with emphasis on basic systems engineering process. The Pugh Matrix was used in the feasibility study to determine the alternative water-purification system selection. The feasibility study confirmed that in terms of cost and operating efficiency, the Modified Reverse Osmosis System (MROS) met all operational requirements. A prototype model of the selected system was tested and evaluated to determine feasibility of the design. The prototype test results showed that the water purification system performed effectively and efficiently in accordance with the operational requirements. The water-purification system's reliability was modeled and estimated to show overall reliability of 0.9064.