From seawater to potable water: Manila Water brings refreshing relief to Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines - Water is a basic human need. It is the body’s principal chemical component and makes up about 60 to 70 percent of body weight.

Water regulates bodily functions that lead to healthy life. In fact, every system in the body depends on water — from joints and organs to tissues and cells.

But when disasters arise and a community becomes short of water supply, the need for safe drinking water is nothing but a necessity in order to survive, which remains to be the biggest challenge in far-flung areas that have nothing but raw water to start with.

While it seemed impossible on the surface, a solution to this water problem, however, has become viable and readily available via Manila Water Co.’s mobile treatment plant (MTP). This technologically advanced equipment is able to transform any type of raw water — whether floodwater, river water or even seawater — into potable drinking water for the people who need it most.

With the help of reverse osmosis systems, the MTP, also known as portable treatment plant, has the ability to clean common contaminants present in raw water, such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, microorganisms, parasites, and solids like salts and hardness present in seawater.

To those not familiar with water treatments, reverse osmosis is a process that involves the de-mineralization or de-ionization of water by pushing it under pressure through a semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane, which allows the passage of water molecules but not the majority of dissolved solids and other contaminants like dissolved salts, organics, bacteria, and pyrogens.

Through this technology, the MTP can remove up to 99.5 percent of dissolved salts and virtually colloidal and suspended matter from the most challenging feed water, including municipal, brackish, and seawater applications.

In terms of productivity, the MTP can purify water as much as 3,000 to 4,000 liters per hour, depending on the type of source of the raw water being processed. And in cases where saltwater, floodwater, or brackish water is used, the MTP is capable of treating 1,000-1,500 liters per hour.

Recently, Manila Water transported its treatment plant to respond to the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas, by setting up the MTP in Bantayan, Cebu to treat seawater drawn from under the bridge beside the Ticad barangay hall. It has produced a total of 199,200 liters of potable water which provided the drinking water needs of Barangay Ticad and other neighboring areas.

During calamities such Yolanda, Manila Water sends about eight to 10 of its personnel, including a chemist, an operator, a technician, a driver, and a security, to operate and man the MTP operations and ensure that potable water is provided to residents of calamity-stricken areas.

On the average, the shifting teams stay in the area for about two weeks to a month, depending on the need of the community.

A month before Yolanda’s devastation, Manila Water deployed its MTP in Loon town in Bohol shortly after the province was hit with a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that damaged water systems in the province.