ADB ties up with firms to deliver water

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has partnered with US-based Zero Mass Water Inc. (ZMW) to equip selected provincial power firms with solar hydropanels that can produce clean and potable water.

During the partnership’s unveiling at the regional lender’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Thursday, these companies were identified as the Pangasinan, First Bukidnon, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Sur, Bohol 2, Samar 2, Davao del Norte, and Misamis Occidental electric cooperatives.

They will be installed with ZMW’s SOURCE hydropanels, which turns water vapor extracted from the air into a proprietary absorbent material. The water then flows into a reservoir, where it is mineralized with calcium and magnesium for health and taste.

Each panel, which costs $2,000 (P106,920) excluding installation, can store five liters of water daily and last at least 15 years.

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is the agency implementing this project.

“The deployment of climate-proof drinking water through the SOURCE hydropanels will help address the watersupply problems in rural and off- grid areas, especially in small islands in the Philippines, which lack access to both reliable drinking water and electricity,” said Yongping Zhai, chief of the ADB’s energy sector group.

“The Philippines’ geography adds extra barriers for reliance on traditional water infrastructure, yet makes it ideal for our technology to provide families, communities, and businesses with drinking water,” ZMW founder and CEO Cody Friesen said.

The panels are very ideal for places were power interruptions are common, and the water these produce are cheaper than that sold by bottled-water firms, according to him.

The planned installation comes almost a year after ZMW teamed up with Filipino partner Green Heat Corp. in putting four of these panels on the ADB’s roof, the first institution in the country to do so.

According to Green Heat Director Glenn Tong, his company is in talks with some government offices in rural areas to install hydropanels there.