ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. --Joint Munitions Command was recognized on April 24, 2019, for modernizing the wastewater treatment technologies of munitions production at load, assemble and pack operations.
The new treatment system was researched at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory, the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant and McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. The joint team effort studied the simple process control and plant operation issues associated with low pH explosives production water. The old process was degrading the plumbing used to transfer the wastewater and impacting operations. The new process will impact government-owned and government-operated and government-owned and contractor-operated facilities and reduce treatment costs from $6 per gallon to $0.55 per gallon.
Best management practices were established for the handling of explosives production water and processing wastewater in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner. Two new cost-effective steps were developed and incorporated into the treatment process. These new steps removed a large quantity of the contaminants from the IM wastewater which allows the last step to remove extremely small traces of contaminants before transfer.
JMC collaborated with staff at the ERDC; the Combat Capabilities Development Armaments Center; Joint PEO Armaments and Ammunition; and students and faculty from the U.S. Military Academy's System Engineering Department to develop an innovative technology to replace the existing high-cost treatment of wastewater at industrial base facilities using this process.
"Through their intensive, multi-dimensional approach to technology transfer, the team transitioned their effective research and development technology to ammunition plants performing load, assemble and pack on an industrial scale," said Dr. Steve Larson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These efforts "guarantee the economic viability of these plants -- thereby ensuring that our nation's Warfighters receive the most effective and safest equipment to accomplish their critical missions."
This new technology is an example of how JMC is modernizing to increase readiness and meeting the needs of current and future munitions production to ensure Soldiers and units are more lethal to win our nation's wars.
These efforts were recognized with an Interagency Partnership Award hosted by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer in Orlando, Florida.
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