Lightweight, Man-Portable, Low-Power Individual Water Purification System

In todays military, active special operators must be highly mobile and carry all their essential equipment and supplies with them. A major limitation to mobility is the need to carry fresh water. An individual must carry 12 to 24 pounds of water for each day they will be in the field without re-supply. It would be far better to be able to purify locally available water, but no technology exists that will allow special operators on the battlefield to purify water in every environment. Existing, commercially available water purification devices can readily handle large particles, bacteria, protozoan cysts and viruses, but there are currently no man portable systems for purifying brackish or salt water. In this proposal we propose to build a lightweight, individual water purification system that includes desalination. The Phase I work plan is to add desalination to an existing freshwater purifier. By testing the desalinization system we will be able to identify its advantages and address any problems. We will carry out an engineering analysis to determine the cost and performance of the water purification system and design a prototype that we will build in Phase II.