MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn. – Guardsmen with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s A Company, 169th Divisional Sustainment Support Battalion, deployed a tactical water purification system Oct. 6 to provide drinking water to communities affected by Hurricane Helene.
Set up in Johnson County behind Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, the TWPS purifies water from Roan Creek and distributes it to Mountain City, Elk Mills and Poga residents.
“We chose this location because it is near a population that was severely affected by the hurricane and is close to the interstate to make it easier to distribute,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Richards, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the TWPS team.
In environments without potable water, the TWPS is a quick solution. It can purify 1,500 gallons of water per hour from a freshwater source.
“A lot of the water lines and local supply chains have been damaged, thus cutting off usable drinking water,” said Richards.
This same system was last used by the Tennessee National Guard in a 2023 deployment to Syria for Operation Inherent Resolve. Over 765,000 gallons of water were purified during that deployment.