Hungarian firm donates R10-M water mobile compact unit

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) forged a partnership with a Hungarian water management systems company on Wednesday to fulfill the delivery of a water mobile compact unit worth $200,000 or R10 million to the Philippines.

NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said the single water unit that will be donated by the Hungarian Water Technology Corporation (HWTC) can be used to provide potable water to the public during emergency situations and natural disasters.

The need for this technology was felt with the series of earthquakes in parts of Mindanao last month, where thousands of residents were affected.

“Definitely, water is always a concern whenever there is a disaster. Water, including sanitation and health, is one of the clusters that we establish whenever we respond to a particular disaster,” Jalad said at the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the HWTC at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“We are now seeing that in the situation in Cotabato after the earthquake just recently and while we have technologies available, we see that we need more of this kind of equipment that HWTC can provide,” he added.

HWTC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adrian Kiss said the water unit can process 2.5 to 6.5 cubic per meters every hour.

The technology can even process seawater, he said.

In 2014, the HWTC also deployed a mobile water treatment unit in Eastern Samar following the destructive super typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013.

“Our technology can help local communities who have to be displaced from the disaster area to receive clean and healthy drinking water, because water is life. Water is one of the most important commodities that we have on a daily basis,” he stated.

The water mobile compact unit will be delivered to the Philippines in mid-February 2020 and will be operational by April 2020, in time for the typhoon season which usually comes in by June.

“This technology is already tested, and one of the greatest advantages is its mobility,” Kiss said.

Unlike other water treatment units, HWTC’s technology is not installed in a 20 or 40 foot container but in pallets which have a diameter of about 1x1 meter.

“It is easy to move from one island to another in a very short time. It is also easy and fast to set up. It can be commissioned in one day, and it can treat right away water and provide it to the population,” Kiss said.