Two Cases. Two Minutes. One Person. Delivering 1,000 Liters of Drinking Water an hour

Portable Swedish water system keeps soldiers, firefighters and communities supplied when normal water supplies fail

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, August 19, 2026 – When a wildfire cuts off a community, a disaster damages a water network, or soldiers are operating in a battlefield, one basic necessity can quickly become a serious problem: where do you get enough safe drinking water?

A Swedish-designed mobile water purification system that fits into two rugged Pelican carrying cases provides an answer. The Bluewater Emergency Station can be activated by one person in around two minutes, fully deployed in under 15 minutes, and generate up to 1,000 liters of purified drinking water an hour from any local water source – stream, lake, surface water, or reservoir, whether contaminated or brackish.

The life-support hydration system is being showcased live this week at DALO Industry Days in Denmark, one of Europe’s leading military and defense technology exhibitions with over 12,000 defence professionals from 28 countries attending.

However, the potential uses of the Bluewater Emergency Station extend well beyond the battlefield.

For firefighters and emergency crews tackling major wildfires, floods or other disasters, the system can provide an immediate source of drinking water when normal supplies are disrupted. The system also gives water companies another option when a burst main, flood, contamination incident, power failure or other emergency knocks out part of the local water network. Instead of bringing in thousands of single-use plastic bottles, local water could be treated near the affected community and used for drinking and basic washing.

The emergency station is designed to remove up to 99% of toxic chemicals, metals, germs, and salt from brackish water, reducing the need to transport large quantities of bottled or bulk water.

The military application has been successfully tested in the field, including in conflict zones in Ukraine. The Swedish Armed Forces have already ordered 500 Emergency Stations through the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), with around 100 delivered. The system has been assigned a NATO Stock Number.

“Getting large quantities of safe drinking water to personnel and the general public can be a major logistical challenge during any crisis situation, whether caused by a war or a fire,” says Bengt Rittri, CEO and founder of Bluewater. “We wanted to put serious purification capacity into a highly mobile system that one person can have up and running within minutes.”

Bluewater has also developed an Arctic version of the Emergency Station for extreme cold. Five systems are currently being built for the special forces of a NATO country, designed to operate in temperatures as low as -30°C.

Bluewater is currently talking to European armed forces, emergency organizations and water companies about using mobile water purification when normal water supplies are unavailable, damaged or contaminated.

The Emergency Water Station is on display at Booth U2449 during DALO Industry Days in Herning, Denmark, 19–20 August 2026.