The USS Freedom, commissioned into active service on Nov. 8 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the first of the U.S. Navy’s new class of agile, high-tech warships designed for fast response in shallow, coastal waters to counter threats from mines, submarines and fast surface craft. The Freedom represents a new U.S. maritime strategy and will play an important role in the Navy’s future.
Pentair’s involvement with the project began three years ago when Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine Corporation was tasked with building the first of 55 ships. Marinette Marine called on Pentair to build the ship’s water filtration system, using the Everpure bromination systems.
Safer and easier to use aboard ships and submarines than chlorine, Everpure bromination systems are installed aboard most U.S. Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters to treat potable water. Bromination, the process of using elemental bromine to disinfect and transform water to make it safe, allows an ocean-cruising vessel to turn the water on which it floats into quality cooking and drinking water.
For the USS Freedom, Pentair built two Everpure bromination systems – a proportioning brominator and a recirculating brominator. The off-the-shelf proportioning brominator automatically delivers a constant bromine-to-water ratio to the potable water made by the ship’s marine reverse osmosis system, treating the water to the point of drinkability. The recirculating brominator maintains the proper level of bromine in the water. The system was customized to include an automatic starter switch, minimizing the need for manual operation and freeing important crew time. The result is a safe and effective solution that will help provide high-quality water to those aboard the ship.
Everpure bromination systems are installed on tankers transporting oil from Valdez, Alaska to refineries on the West Coast, and are aboard many off-shore oil and gas drilling and production platforms currently in operation around the world. In addition, Pentair was recently awarded a new contract by Defense Supply Center, Columbus, Ohio to supply bromine cartridges to the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.
Everpure, a foodservice industry supplier, has been manufacturing commercial water treatment
products, solutions and services worldwide since 1933. Everpure is also a provider of water treatment products to the vending, consumer, marine and aviation markets.
(www.everpure.com)
(www.pentair.com)