Ateneo installs solar-powered clean water system in Bohol town

MANILA, Philippines - In one of the major hospitals in Loon, Bohol, patients are being medicated outside the building and admitted inside tents or in the nearby covered court after the killer 7.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed the hospital building. With no food to buy, they only rely on relief goods to eat and donated bottled water to drink.

The Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC) thus responded immediately to this scenario by installing the Solar-powered Clean Water System that helped clean tap water for the patients of the Cong. Natalio P. Castillo Sr. Memorial Hospital and the residents of Loon. Existing water systems in Loon were infected with microbes because of the recent quake. 

“There is existing tap water but it’s not potable because it might be contaminated because of the earthquake,” said Paul Cabacungan, Ateneo Innovation Center’s head of operations.

The Solar-powered Clean Water System uses harvested rainwater which will undergo a series of filters (ceramic filters, ion exchange resin, activated carbon) then exposure under an ultraviolet lamp to kill the bacteria.

According to Cabacungan, the hospital already had an existing rainwater harvesting system which he just connected to the units. Prior to the installation, people in Loon used to boil the water to ensure its cleanliness for cooking and drinking.

Cabacungan trained the doctors and personnel of the hospital about the system, the do’s and don’ts, and some simple troubleshooting of the Solar-powered Clean Water System.

He also installed LED lighting in the water stations to enable people to get water even at night. The system also came with a cellphone charging station that they could use for emergency purposes. 

The installation was the initiative of Fr. Erick Velandria, S.J., who contacted Cabacungan to ask how the AIC could help in rehabilitating Bohol.

Velandria was also responsible for the relief operation in Cagayan de Oro City after Typhoon Sendong  struck the place in late 2011.

Dr. Celestina de la Cerna, the hospital’s head administrator, said the installation of the Solar-powered Clean Water System “provided potable water (to us), but some still doubt it because it’s not “bottled.”

“We have patrons in the hospital who used it. They are okay,” De la Cerna said. She also added that there is a continuous plea from the people to conserve water.

During the installation, Loon was not accessible by land so they had transport the equipment using a boat.

Bohol still experiences aftershocks that Cabacungan said can last up to years. He recalled that while installing the units, he experienced a very brief but strong aftershock.

Since the day the earthquake struck, doctors and nurses of the hospital still have not gone home because they are busy attending to the patients and helping in the relief operations. Patients with severe conditions are brought to the hospitals in nearby Tagbilaran City.

The municipality of Loon had the most number of casualties with 53, making it the most damaged town in Bohol. The historical Church of the Nuestra Señora de la Luz Parish (Church of Our Lady of Light or more commonly known as Loon Church) built in 1853 was also destroyed because of the earthquake.