TM 10-4610-232-34
Hypochlorite — Calcium hypochlorite (chlorine) used to destroy biological growth in water.
Inlet pressure — Pressure measured at the inlet of a component.
Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) — Filtration unit of the ROWPU used to filter out nuclear, biological, or
chemical contaminants; includes carbon and deionizing (DI) filtration.
Neutralize — To counteract the effects of contaminants in the water or ROWPU.
Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). — A measurement of turbidity as determined by a turbidity meter.
Nuclear warfare agents. — These are removed in the deionizing (DI) filter of the NBC filtration unit.
Osmosis — Process in which water diffuses through a membrane from a less concentrated saline solution to a
more concentrated saline solution.
Osmostic pressure — The pressure generated by the osmotic passage of water into a more saline water.
Outlet pressure — Pressure measured at the outlet of a component.
PicoCuries. A measurement of nuclear radiation.
Polyelectrolyte — Chemical mixed with water to produce floc particles.
Potable water — Water meeting military standards for drinkability.
Potential for hydrogen (pH) — This symbol is used with a numeric value to indicate the relative acidity or alkalinity
of a solution. The pH scale runs from 0-14 with number 7 being a neutral solution (pure water). The numbers 6 to
1 indicate increasing acidity and the numbers 8 to 14 indicate increasing alkalinity.
Product — Water produced by the Water Purification System of the ROWPU before adding hypochlorite.
Pulse dampener — Unit to smooth out regularly repeated variations in output of RO pump.
Raw water — Contaminated or untreated source of water for the Raw Water Intake System of the ROWPU.
Reagents — Chemicals used to cause a reaction or change.
Reject — See “brine.”
Reverse Osmosis (RO) — A reversal of the osmosis process brought about by applying a water pressure greater
than osmotic pressure on water containing dissolved solids.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Element — A device containing the membrane material which provides the reverse
osmosis separation, a feed channel for water passage and a product channel and collector for gathering the
purified water.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Vessel — A high pressure cylinder which holds one or more RO elements.
Saline water — A water containing dissolved solids (salts).
Scale — A build up of salts such as calcium carbonate or calcium sulfate on the reverse osmosis elements.
Semi-automatic — A device or system which, when manually started, will continue to operate until an
operational cycle is complete.
Glossary-4
