Compact, Lightweight Water Filtration for the Soldier

Provision of clean drinking water poses a significant challenge to Army units in the field. Due to the quantity of water required and its substantial weight, soldiers can only carry a limited supply, and sustainment of soldiers through centralized resupply poses major logistical hurdles in many situations. Existing portable water filters to not meet the need to treat locally available water supplies for safe consumption. The proposed water filtration unit addresses the limitations in current filters, especially the ability to remove viruses. The unit will be lightweight and compact so that it can be carried by soldiers to purify water in the field and will meet the challenging EPA standards for microbiological purification. During Phase I, proof-of-principle filter hardware including pump and filtration media was built and tested, showing the feasibility of the proposed technical approach. Phase II involves the development and testing of full prototype filter systems.