DENVER, Colo. —The National Training Center and Fort Irwin received the 2019 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award for Exceptional Achievement in Innovation and New Technology in Denver, Colorado on Aug. 22.
A delegation from Fort Irwin accepted the award for efforts surrounding construction of Weed Army Community Hospital (WACH). The state-of-the-art facility has seven energy-conservation measures, including a solar array to supplement onsite energy needs.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) has received several acknowledgements for their work in the past, including conserving water and green power generation on the installation, that has resulted in a savings of almost 20 million gallons of water per year and a reduction in wastewater treatment of more than 27 million gallons per year.
The Fort Irwin Water Works opened in 2016 at a cost of $101 million.
According to a release from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Energy and Sustainability), “Irwin Water Works replacement of the reverse osmosis plant reduced annual freshwater for U.S. Army Garrison in fiscal year 2017 by 19.7 million gallons and wastewater treatment by 27.1 million gallons. The plant accomplishes this by using a unique combination of water treatment and recovery technologies.”