Bioenvironmental, civil engineers keep base water flowing

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Water is one of the most abundant resources in the world. It makes up 70 percent of a person's body and covers 75 percent of the Earth. Without it someone wouldn't survive more than a day in a harsh environment.

Here at Osan, the 51st Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bioenvironmental Flight and the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron are in charge of processing the water that comes on base and making sure it remains safe to drink.

The process begins at the Seoul water treatment plant. The plant provides water to more than 30 million people every day, which includes Osan.

The water then flows to base and enters the base water treatment facility where the civil engineers process more than a million gallons a day.

Tech. Sgt. Kyung Pak, 51st Civil Engineer Squadron, said when needed the water treatment team adds chlorine and other chemicals to bring it up to DOD standards. They perform about seven different hourly checks on the water they process to include: pH, chlorine, water hardness and alkaline levels.

From there the water travels to the rest of the base and that's when the bioenvironmental Airmen take over.

These Airmen perform and manage activities in the fields of industrial hygiene, occupational health, radiological health and environmental protection. They ensure healthy working conditions are maintained and that the environment isn't adversely affected by any Air Force operations.

Among their duties they also keep a close eye on the base's water supply to ensure it remains at proper levels for chlorine and pH, and free of any harmful bacteria that could make it undrinkable.

Staff Sgt. Michael Gilbert, the NCO in charge of Environmental Health, said they continually monitor the base's water supply and check it weekly at different points around base. Everywhere from the Child Development Center to the on-base schools to the housing areas and other different areas on the flightline get checked.

He said each point that is checked is based on a grid and how the water flows around base. During these checks they have specific things they are looking for.

"We're testing for pH, which tells us whether or not the water is acidic or basic...we test for chlorine...obviously chlorine cleans the water so we've got to make sure there's a good level of chlorine inside the water," Gilbert said. "We also test for...different forms of bacteria. Then we bring (the water samples) back to our lab and we get the results that way."

Bacteria in a water supply is bad because it can make people sick, he said. The chlorine and pH levels help control bacteria, but it's also important to make sure those levels are safe, he explained.

Recently, the base has seen a slight fluctuation in its water's smell and taste.

Pak said the Seoul water distribution plant was starting to get the system ready for winter and with the few days of nice weather everything got thrown off. The warmer weather produced a lot of algae that they had to clean up. The chemicals that were used added the strange smell and taste to the water.

Gilbert said it's not harmful to anyone but it just tastes different and may take a few weeks before the water goes back to normal.

"It's a ton of water being filtered through this base, so it's going to take a long time to get the taste back down to where it was," Gilbert said.

Be patient and realize bioenvironmental and 51st CES are constantly monitoring the water coming on base and ensuring it's safe to drink.