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“Global Fire Fighters Germany” (GFFG) is a relief initiative by fire protection engineers Jürgen Sprengel and Harald Schillegger from Dortmund. This globally unique relief project is realized as a project trip with an all-wheel-drive expedition vehicle. Equipped with firefighting equipment and rescue materials, the vehicle serves as a mobile accommodation for the project team and simultaneously acts as a first response vehicle. In sparsely populated regions that lack their own fire or rescue service infrastructures, immediate assistance can be provided, for example, in the event of traffic accidents or medical emergencies. The project vehicle is equipped for weeks of autonomous operation, far from civilization, and has a range of more than 2000 kilometers.
The project route roughly follows the course of the Panamericana. During their approximately two-year journey from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, GFFG focuses on training measures for safety in firefighting. They engage in active networking between fire departments in donor countries and needy countries to initiate equipment assistance and improve the desperate situation of highly motivated but often completely inadequately equipped fire departments in the countries along the project route. Additionally, GFFG will promote the volunteer fire department system based on the German model and provide active suggestions for converting old civilian or military vehicles into improvised firefighting vehicles. The initiators also aim to promote international firefighter camaraderie and peaceful cooperation between nations, feeling committed to the principles of the United Nations and acting politically neutral and independent.
Water Treatment in an All-Wheel-Drive Expedition Vehicle
The route planned for the fire brigade aid project passes through areas where public water supply is problematic or simply non-existent. Therefore, for the implementation of the project, a high degree of autonomy of the expedition vehicle regarding its own water and power supply is important. At the same time, the available space on board must be used as efficiently as possible, as only a limited drinking water volume of 300 liters can be carried.
During the conversion of the project vehicle, a system had to be designed that allows the use of various freshwater sources. The space-saving installation, reliable and energy-efficient disinfection of the water, and the possibility of dispensing drinking water to the outside were the priority guidelines set. In the PURION 1000 from UV Concept, Jürgen Sprengel and Harald Schillegger found a powerful UV water disinfection system that meets their requirements. The system ensures the drinking water supply of the all-wheel-drive project vehicle.
Why a drinking water system from UV Concept?
During previous trips in areas with poor drinking water quality, the initiators managed by consuming only mineral water. During stays in Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia), they became seriously ill despite all precautions and had to receive medical treatment. The cause of the infections was contaminated water, which is used locally in many restaurants for washing dishes.
During some expedition trips through the Australian deserts, the challenging water logistics were a particular challenge. At that time, the GFFG expedition team had no means of water treatment in the rented off-road vehicles to use, for example, the old cattle wells along the Canning Stock Route. Thus, they were forced to carry large amounts of drinking water in addition to the large fuel reserves. Even then, Jürgen Sprengel and Harald Schillegger wondered how a drinking water disinfection system on board an off-road vehicle should be designed.
The duration of the planned project along the Panamericana makes a permanent water supply from bottles or canisters impossible. Environmental protection aspects, particularly the avoidance of packaging waste, availability, and high costs, speak against it. In addition to clean drinking water for self-supply and distribution to outsiders, water is also needed for daily personal hygiene and laundry - reliably at every location along the project route, in the wilderness of Alaska as well as in Nicaragua or Guatemala.
By using the water disinfection system from UV Concept, it is ensured that clean drinking water of excellent quality is reliably available at every location along the project route. And not only for the project team itself, but due to the high performance of the UV system, in case of need, also for other emergency forces, as drinking water can be generated from surface water at any time.
The Installation
A specialist company was hired for the installation of the UV system, according to whose statement, the implementation of the UV filter into the existing system was uncomplicated. Thus, the compact UV disinfection system could be excellently integrated into the overall concept of the drinking water filtration system.
The drinking water filtration system consists of several elements. Most of them are mounted on a retractable "filter board" for easy maintenance. The water is either fed into the drinking water filtration system from the local pressure water network or drawn from a well or surface water using a suitable submersible pump. It then first flows through a three-stage filter cascade, consisting of a filter screen, a coarse filter, and a fine filter. This allows water that is not free of suspended matter to be fed in if necessary. Subsequently, the heart of the filtration system is flowed through, a PURION 1000 UV filter. Behind it, there is a small lateral water outlet. This serves to drain the water until the operating temperature of the UV lamp is reached. Additionally, the quality of the filtered water can be at least roughly checked with a TDS tester here. A discharge hose can also be connected to this side outlet, and filtered water can be supplied to third parties. If the side outlet is closed, the filtered water is directed into the drinking water storage tank. The pre-filtered water is kept fresh with the help of silver nets in the drinking water tank. In the main drinking water distributor, there is a carbon filter behind the pressure equalization tank. In the kitchen area, there is a separate tap just for drinking water. This is additionally secured by an end filter (ceramic element with a 0.1 μm passage size) to prevent recontamination of the drinking water line. A special feature of the project vehicle is that water can also be pumped from the drinking water storage tank into the fire water storage tank via a transfer pump, to supply a water mist fire extinguishing system. The highly sensitive water mist fire extinguishing system only works flawlessly with reliably filtered water. This comparatively high effort resulted from the requirement to be able to make use of fresh water wherever it is available for our project. Because clean drinking and utility water is of elemental importance for the health of the project team and thus for the success of the project.
Why UV Concept?
Jürgen Sprengel and Harald Schillegger first became aware of UV Concept during an internet search and then had intensive trade fair discussions with WM Aquatec and Dr. Wipprich, the managing director of PURION GmbH, during the planning of the drinking water filtration system.
The GFFG team would choose a product from UV Concept again at any time. The excellent advice, combined with the technology and market leadership in the field of mobile UV drinking water disinfection and not least the outstanding and high-quality engineering solutions, have more than convinced.
