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The system's advantages
Labuntog says, his gadget removes all impurities from runoff, wells, rivers and lakes. It filters all types of water except salt water using ceramic filters, a technology developed by the Industrial Technology Development Institute. Test for water potability showed positive results and has been certified by the Natural Sciences Research Institute of the University of the Philippines. It is compact, low-cost, has a simple design, and uses mostly local materials (80 percent).
Potential beneficiaries of this project are the small communities such as sitios, barangays and small towns and far-flung areas in any region of the Philippines.
- Provide barangays with cheap safe drinking water
True cost of installing the system varies according to the degree of pollution in raw water and the size of the plant. The inventor estimates that a plant producing 100 cubic meters of water a day would cost only P500,000. The treatment plant may be fabricated or installed on site, and the cost of treating a cubic meter of water would come to only P8 to P15.
Labuntog spent P265,000 to come out with his first prototype in May 2001. His first client, the Pililla Poultry Processing Plant, recovered its P2 million investment in six months. (The plant soon added iodine into its water to sell iodized mineral water. It has also built another plant nearby to produce 50 cubic meters of iodized mineral water a day, and named the company producing it Iodized Mineral Water Inc.) In March 2004, Labuntog started work on a treatment facility in the municipality of Trento in Agusan del Sur. Now he's through with a hybrid gadget to process brackish water in Monkayo in Compostela Valley, where drinking water is scarce.
It is hoped that this simple design will address the need in our country to avail of safe drinking water at affordable cost, according to Engr. Labuntog. It is his desire to provide low-income barangays with safe drinking water and at the same time iodized water all over the country.
- Ideal for emergencies, in time of calamities
Because our country is a calamity-prone area in this part of the world, there are times when over flooding stays for days and months in a certain place. Safe drinking water then becomes a problem for the residents. With the rapid multi-media filtration system machine on hand, the community is assured of safe drinking water no matter how long the flood would stay with them. The flood itself could be a source of filtered clean and safe drinking water.
The mobile designs of the rapid filtration system-iodized water are ideal to use by the civil defense establishments and the military which can be deployed anywhere in the country anytime. Its approximate weight of one ton can be transported by UH-1 type helicopter for fast deployment, claimed Engr. Labuntog.
- Can enhance mental capability
The equipment markedly improves the production and delivery of iodine-fortified water similar to the "Tubig Talino" of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). The processed water can enhance the mental capability of our people most especially the youth and also prevents enlargement of the thyroid known as goiter.
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