TM 10-4610-310-14
OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS
LIGHTWEIGHT WATER PURIFIER
CYANIDE REMOVAL
GENERAL
This work package contains information and instructions for treating a water supply contaminated by radioactive
iodide, cyanide or arsenic. Water contaminated by these chemicals requires a batch treatment process, and a
unique setup of the LWP. When the LWP is configured for treating these contaminants it is capable of treating
water contaminated with the concentrations summarized in Table 1 at a reduced daily production rate
(approximately 1200 GPD on a freshwater source and 900 GPD on a seawater source).
Table 1. NBC concentration maximum limits.
Agent
Concentration
Cyanide
30 mg/liter
Arsenic
2 mg/liter
Radioactive iodide
167 microcuries/liter
FM 10-52, 10-52-1 and the M272 kit instructions provide additional information and guidance on doctrine,
treatment and detection for NBC operations.
Refer to WP 0016 for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) decontamination procedures after operating on a
contaminated source.
PROCEDURE SUMMARY
When the LWP is configured in the normal NBC treatment mode (see WP 0016), the rejection of radioactive
iodide, arsenic, and cyanide by the reverse osmosis module combined with the adsorption properties of the
NBC filter is not sufficient for the LWP to produce water meeting the Tri-Service Water Quality Standards for
long term (less than 1 year), large quantity consumption (15 liters per day).
The only SAFE method of purifying waters contaminated with radioactive iodide, arsenic, and cyanide is to
configure the LWP to operate in a double pass mode prior to the NBC filter. In double pass mode, product
water will be ran through the RO element module a second time to achieve another level of purification prior to
the NBC filter. For cyanide contaminated waters, the pH of the first pass product water must be raised to
between 10.5 and 11.0 in order to achieve the required rejection of cyanide during the second pass.
The double pass method is a batch procedure. The LWP will be configured with the raw water pump acting as
the booster pump and directly feeding the UF module bypassing the settling tank. The LWP will then be
operated in normal mode and will use settling tank T1 as a first pass product water storage tank. Caustic will be
mixed into the first pass product water to raise the pH to 10.5 to 11.0 (for cyanide removal only). After the
