DOH deploys mobile water treatment facility in NCR

In a bid to ensure Metro Manila residents affected by last week's heavy rain and floods have clean water to drink, the Department of Health has deployed a mobile water treatment facility to evacuation centers. DOH Metro Manila Director Eduardo Janairo said the Albay government under Governor Jose Salceda lent his office the equipment. “This water treatment facility unit is very suitable because it can supply clean and potable drinking water in an instant, especially in times of emergency, water shortages and calamities. It can be started up and applied on the spot. All you need is to obtain an adequate source of water which the unit can process,” Janairo said. The unit is presently deployed in Malabon City to provide purified water to affected families in evacuation centers. It will then be transferred to other affected area once there is enough supply of potable water in the area for consumption. A DOH news release said the mobile water treatment facility unit was donated to the Albay provincial government of Albay in 2009 by the Spanish government. It is manned by Team Albay headed by provincial health office deputy chief Dr. Nats Rempillo. The mobile water treatment system offers treatment processes such as oil-water separation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. Under the system, the unit is placed closely to the source of raw water to be processed. The water product in this mobile treatment unit is safe for consumption. According to the DOH, the unit can process up to 12,000 liters of purified water per hour. Sources of water that can be used are swimming pools, rainwater, river with mild turbidity and deep well or shallow well. Meanwhile, Janairo – who chairs the Metro Manila Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Committee (MMDWQMC) – also ordered the testing of water from sampling points in the affected areas. The water there is to undergo strict bacteriological, physical and chemical examination to ensure that water from concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad Water will be safe to drink. — LBG, GMA News