DOST gives 500 poor families low-cost water purifiers

MANILA, Philippines - Some 500 poor families in a resettlement area in Muntinlupa City received low-cost water purifiers yesterday as part of efforts by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to provide potable water to Filipinos.

The ceramic pot water filter units, developed by the DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute, were distributed to residents of Southville 3 in Muntinlupa City.

The water filter is made of red clay coated with nano-colloidal silver, an anti-microbial agent that is more efficient than the chlorination process in traditional water filter system, ITDI director Nuna Almanzor said.

The pot-shaped filter is placed on top of a plastic container that holds the filtered water.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo said the filter can reduce Escherichia coli count to less than one percent. E. coli can cause diarrhea, one of the leading causes of death among children under five.

Almanzor said ITDI researchers came out with a filter system that is easy to make, portable, inexpensive, use-friendly, and made of local clay that passed the required physical properties of ceramic pot filters. She said the ITDI water filter has passed the Philippine National Standards for drinking water in terms of microbiological and chemical analysis.

“It is capable of purifying tap water, deep well water, and raw water tainted with up to three percent suspended particles or silt and convert these into safe drinking water,” Almanzor said.

Montejo said each water purifier costs around P100 to P200.