• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Electrical Team Performs Repairs to Brine Pump

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090723-04
Release Date: 7/23/2009 1:55:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Charles Oki, USS George Washington Public Affairs

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea (NNS) -- Electrician's mates (EM) aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) completed repairs of an important pump that is key to mission readiness and morale July 19.

The EMs repaired a brine pump, which is used to move high-concentrated salt water off the ship after ocean water has been desalinized for use as potable water.

The brine pump is important for maintaining mission readiness and comfort for the officers and crew. Potable water is created when the desalination pumps pump salt water into distillation tanks to be boiled. The salt and water are separated when the water becomes steam and is collected in large collection tanks.

After the desalinization process, the leftover brine, high-concentrated salt water, is pumped back into the ocean to avoid wasting space. Because of this, the brine pumps become just as important as the desalination pumps.

"Without the use of one of these pumps, our ability to create potable water is cut in half," said Chief Electrician's Mate (SW/AW) Hector Villanueva.

Villanueva indicated that if the ship lost enough desalinization capacity, it would not be able to keep up with the amount of water that is used to make food, do laundry, take showers or even drink. The ship's inability to create potable water would eventually lead to water hours, which could negatively affect morale among the crew.

"We're doing our best to make sure the crew has one less thing to worry about in the event something happens," said Villanueva. "That's why we have been working hard to bring the pump back online since it's gone down."

The pump's motor was damaged after a ball bearing shattered inside the casing, shredding the copper wiring and disabling the motor and pump.

The EMs of the engineering department's E division on board George Washington quickly began repairs by first burning out all the copper coils and debris left inside the motor. After burning out everything inside the motor casing, they began the long process of recoiling the entire motor, which contains more than 400 feet of copper wiring and can take more than a week to complete.

The hard and tedious work becomes worthwhile when the motor and pump are brought back online and begin creating fresh water again.

"We've all been working longer hours to get this pump fixed because we know how important it is to the mission and to everyone's morale," said Electrician's Mate Fireman Ekkaphone Sayarath. "When the ship is able to make enough water, everyone is able to take longer showers and no one has to worry about if they will have enough clean clothing. It makes me [feel] like I need to do my job faster so everyone won't have to worry about any of those things. I have pride in what we're doing."

After spending more than 200 hours repairing the pump, the engineers of E division replaced the pump and brought the ship back to normal water production. Also thanks to the unwavering crew, water hours were never needed due to all hands keeping water usage to a minimum.

For more news from USS George Washington, visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn73/.