Water Disaster Center
Roddenberry Disaster Response Team
Operations Handbook
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
3
BACKGROUND
4
BY THE NUMBERS
5
WATER DISASTER CENTER
6-9
SHIELD 1000
10
SOLAR BAGS
11
3
Introduction
In mid-November 2013, roughly ten days after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated
the Central Philippines, The Roddenberry Foundation funded the deployment of a
Disaster Response Team (DRT) for a 10 day targeted mission to identify gaps in
addressing the needs of victims and to provide guidance in the use of new
technologies and processes for disaster relief. In addition, the team was tasked with
establishing a place for such new capabilities in the design of future response plans.
The success of that mission prompted The Roddenberry Foundation to support a
one year pilot project in early 2014, creating The Roddenberry Disaster Response
Team to provide the following integrated services:
• Water Distribution: Water sourced from within the disaster zone and purified on
site to provide clean water for drinking, cooking and medical care.
• Rapid Telecommunications Damage Assessment: The deployment of teams
trained in the evaluation and reporting of damage to communications infrastructure.
The Foundation's implementing partner, Seattle-based Infinitum Humanitarian
Systems (IHS), has extensive experience working in war-torn, post-conflict areas
and low-resource communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. IHS will work
closely with InSTEDD, a TED Prize NGO that develops open source technology
tools to serve vulnerable populations.
This handbook is designed to serve as a reference for every member of The
Roddenberry DRT. Each of us brings particular areas of expertise to the effort, but it
is our combined range of skills—spanning everything from internal water, power and
communications tools to deployment preparedness, financial accounting and radio
protocols—that will serve as our common foundation.
This handbook is a living document. The content is dynamic and references will be
updated and added as needed.
Eric Rasmussen MD, MDM, FACP
4
Background
Providing safe water for drinking and cooking is a constant challenge in every
major disaster response effort and the primary mission of The Roddenberry
Disaster Team (DRT). Our charter is to deliver purified water from any
freshwater source within a disaster zone to survivors and relief workers. Our
efforts not only address a critical need, but also significantly reduce an expensive
and environmentally challenging logistical burden.
For example, in 2010 Nestle donated 22 truckloads
of bottled water within a week of the earthquake in
Haiti. Altogether, the company delivered more than
3 million liters of water valued at over $1 million,
most of it in half-liter plastic bottles. Five years
earlier during the response to Hurricane Katrina,
it was a similar scene:
t was a nearly identical scene at the Tacloban airfield in Philippines after Super
Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 and at the Oso Landslide near Seattle in 2014.
The Roddenberry Disaster Shield System will literally change the picture. Our
initial goal is to install systems capable of providing 500 gallons of clean water
per day. We believe we will soon be able to double that, generating as much
water in a day, every day, as is delivered via a single C-130 emergency transport.
In turn, the cargo plane would be freed up for food, shelter and medical supplies
and ferrying relief workers and survivors.
5
By the Numbers
The cost of a single C-130 flight delivering a load of bottled water can be as
much or more as an entire Disaster Shield System capable of delivering the
same amount of water every two days for years on end.
• The standard plastic water bottle for disaster response is a half-liter (500 ml) and
weighs 2.2 pounds.
• One gallon = 3.8 liters
• The Roddenberry DRT plan will generate 500 gallons per day, which is roughly
1,900 liters, replacing 3,800 plastic bottles every day, which tallies up to 26,000
bottles every week and 115,000 bottles every month.
• 115,000 half-liter bottles weigh 250,000 lbs. They have to be air-lifted into a
disaster zone and the empties, if possible, air-lifted out.
• There are 24 half-liter bottles in a plastic-wrapped case and 54 cases in a standard
463L pallet. A C-130 cargo plain configured for disaster relief can hold six 463L
pallets. That's 7,776 bottles collectively carrying a little over 1,000 gallons and
weighing more than 17,000 pounds, plus pallets.
• A C-130H uses Jet-A1 fuel at a rate of roughly 2,300 liters per hour during normal
flight. At an average cost of $1.50 per liter that's $3,450 per hour.
• For a transport requiring one hour flights each way, the bill for fuel alone comes to
nearly $7,000, to which the costs of the flight crew, logistics team, forklift team,
landing fees, plane maintenance and more must be added.
• Bottles of water have a conservatively estimated value of $0.40 (forty cents) per,
which tallies up to $3,110 for a fully loaded C-130 carrying 7,776 bottles.
6
Water Distribution Center (WDC)
The Roddenberry Disaster Shield System (DSS) covers everything from water
purification to water distribution. Once the Team is settled in base camp(s), we will
begin setting up a Water Distribution Center (WDC). This is where water will be
sourced, purified and dispensed. The site will be secure, lit, sheltered and outfitted
with clear informational signage.
In addition to addressing immediate needs, there is an economic empowerment
component to the plan. Local entrepreneurs will be trained to take over the operation
of the system after the DRT departs and reconstruction has begun.
Set Up:
1.
Sourcing: Identify freshwater sources, determine who owns the water
and surrounding land and secure permission to set up the WDC
(preliminary assessments from partner organizations).
2.
Siting: Set up within walking distance of a displaced population center
for easy access by survivors.
3.
Logistics: Site must have driveway for equipment offload and assembly
and a defined pathway for entry and exit.
4.
Power: Ready access to fuel for generator(s). Generators must meet
noise standards and allowed both safe and short wire runs.
5.
Shelter / Lighting / Security: Build shelter for WDC staff and
equipment, install lighting and develop security protocols.
6.
Signage / PA: Secure permission for signage, determine which
languages to use and what icons are best understood by the local
population. Use megaphone for verbal instructions.
7
7.
Distribution protocols: Develop systems for the orderly distribution of
water, the disinfection of re-usable watertight one gallon Ziploc bags,
and for tracking recipients. In many cases, one person will be sent to
collect a family's allotment.
8.
Pumping: Develop method for drawing contaminated water into system
9.
Sediment removal: Run freshwater sourced from a lake, river, stream,
pond or pool through sediment filtration and store in 500-gallon
dirty tank.
10. Water preparation: Run water with filtration and ion exchangers
11. Puralytics Shield: Run water through system to remove fuel residues,
biological pathogens and toxic metals
12. Storage: Transfer purified water to a 500-gallon clean tank.
Water Requirements
Power Requirements
There are a number of tools for
assessing water quality that we will be
using, including Water Canary. Water
must fall within these parameters:
Total Load: 1,300 watts
• Fresh water
• pH between 6 and 10
• Temperature between 41F and 104F
• Iron < 0.6mg/L
• Hardness <120mg/L
• Manganese <0.05mg/L
• Sulfate <10ppm
• Phosphate <10ppm
• Turbidity <5 NTU *
• Surfactants <0.05mg/L
• Chlorine <2.0mg/L
• BOD and TOC <4mg/L
• Dissolved Oxygen >4mg/L
• Source pump: 400 watts max load
* Pre-Shield filters can reduce turbidity
to within requirements
• Puralytics Shield: 570 watts
• LED area lighting: 10 watts
• Pre-filter pump: 100 watts at 3 liters/min
• Post-filter pump: 100 watts at 3 liters/min
• Cell phone charging: 60 watts for 4 cell
phones at a time
• Laptop charging: 60 watts for two laptops
at a time
Spare Parts / Bill of Goods
• Download pdf
8
9
10
Shield 1000 System
Our initial goal is to supply 3.8 liters—about 1 gallon—per person, per day.
According to the Sphere Handbook's list of minimum standards in humanitarian
response, between 2 and 3 liters are needed for drinking and cooking and another
2 to 6 liters for basic hygiene per person, per day.
The Roddenberry DRT plans to distribute 500 gallons over a 12 hour span each
day using the Puralytics' Shield System.That means delivering a gallon of water to
a survivor every 90 seconds, or about 40 gallons per hour. However, it takes 24
hours to process the 500 gallons at a rate of 21 gallons per hour. Water will be
dispensed faster than it is generated, so a quiet period to recharge the tank
overnight is required.
The Puralytics Shield uses a photocatalytic nanomembrane very similar to a
mycelial mesh at its core. Water is pressed through the specially coated membrane
and bombarded with high-intensity light from frequency-tuned LEDs to remove
viruses,, bacteria, protozoa, fuels, pesticides, fertilizers, and heavy metals such as
mercury, arsenic, and lead from freshwater. The system is about 24 inches tall and
weighs about 60 pounds.
Download
Puralytics 1000
manual pdf
11
Solar Water Purification Bags
The Puralytic Solar Bag is a 3-liter version of the LEDbased Shield at Water Distribution Centers. It is a flat
clear plastic bag with an embedded nano tech mesh, a
large fill port on the top and a strong reinforced ring for
hanging. It uses the same photocatalytic process as the
Shield, but is activated by sunlight rather than LEDs.
Along with equipment for two complete Water Distribution
Centers, we plan to take 60 solar bags, some of which will
be used as discretionary gifts for local officials and UN
and NGO partners. The rest are intended to offset
distribution difficulties, e.g, as an alternative for a family
that can only afford to have one person stand in line for
the daily gallon allotment at the WDC.
Solar bags work best on a bright sunny day. It takes at
least three hours to purify water. On overcast days it can
take four hours or more. Depending in the weather, a bag
can be used as many as three times over the course of
• Bags must be used outside
only. Windows filter out key
light frequencies.
• Water must be virtually clear
• As a rule of thumb, let the
bag sit in the sun from one
mealtime to another (e.g.,
breakfast to lunch, lunch to
dinner)
• Wipe the spout of solar bag
with dilute bleach (5% sodium
hypochlorite solution) before
pouring contents into a jerrycan
to avoid accidental
contamination. While the water
in the bag may be clea•n, the
spout may still harbor bacteria.
12 hours, which is enough fill a four-gallon jerrycan about
3/4 full.
• It is vitally important that
whomever we give a bag to
There is no indicator for when a bag's capacity to clean
understands how to use it
water is exhausted, although 500 cycles is considered
properly. Teaching should
normal. As a rule of thumb, replace bags every three
always be done with a local
months (e.g., spring, summer, fall and winter).
translator, one-on-one.
A small bottle of blue food coloring is included with every
dozen bags. If you are concerned about the effectiveness
of a bag, add a single drop before sealing and placing the
bag in the sun. It will be the last contaminant cleared. If
the blue is gone, the water is safe.
• Corrugated tin and light
colored roofs are ideal spots to
set up bags. The bags are
small and easily pilfered, so
look for a safe place, preferably
with friendly observers nearby.