The best out of wastewater
There is no question that water is an absolute essential to life. More than a billion reasons supporting that fact may have already passed through your head—literally. Water comprises 50-70% of the total human body mass, and up to 75% of that body fluid is tucked away in our cells to perform their basic functions. Simply put, we can only last a few days without being hydrated. With around 70% of the world covered in water, a whopping 97% of which is salty. That leaves us with 3% fresh water, and only 1% of which is fit for human consumption.
Water too is vital for civilizations to thrive. From the ancient Egyptians who were nourished by the river Nile—to the ancient Mayans who engineered ways to gather rainwater and manipulate flood-streams into reservoirs for 22 million living in the dry hot bed of the Yucatan Peninsula. Although modern technology has come a long way in helping us efficiently distribute and consume fresh water, a significant amount is still being wasted in no small part due to pollution, calamities and general disregard; this is certainly evident here in our country. Innovations that push the boundary of what is possible with water (in all its forms) must now be explored to help our nation cope with some of its more pressing issues. Enter the ELECTRIFILTER—an ingenious invention developed by John Paul Santos and Christian StaRomana while studying at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Their prototype at its core is capable of converting murky wastewater into usable electricity—using special electrodes to create chemical reactions with the bacteria present to generate energy. Not only that, the water that comes out the other end (though not yet potable) is already cleansed and could be put to better use watering plants, washing your car and other such tasks. The potential of what this project can achieve is in itself capable of alleviating problems in finding cheap sources of renewable energy and bringing about a cleaner environment.
The initiative of our young engineers to start conceptualizing ELECTRIFILTER was sparked by the steady flow of the pungent, garbageinfested Pasig River. They would witness from their school campus its zombie-like journey towards (depending upon the difference in water-levels) Manila Bay or Laguna de Bay. Also, the thought of liters upon liters of wastewater being produced at home contaminating other bodies of water through canals, further cemented their vision to innovate.
Research for John and Christian started within the confines of ECECORE, a sub-organization of the PUP Electronics Engineering Student Society where John served as Vice-President for Research and Development. It was January of this year when a team was created to actively work on the idea, which was to be entered in an international competition by Schneider Electric (a global specialist in energy management) called “Go Green in the City”. With over 40 teams joining for the country finals, ELECTRIFILTER ultimately got through the panel of judges which included Climate Change