BAUKO, Mountain Province 17 – The Cordillera office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-CAR) disclosed the multi-million clay filter facility will be operational by October to pave the way for the production of clay filters that could be used for the production of potable water from rain water among others during calamities.
Dr. Julius Caesar V. Sicat, DOST-CAR regional director, said the establishment of the facility is now on its final stages while the conduct of trainings to those who will be running the facility will be conducted the soonest prior to the full blast operation of the production area.
“We hope we will be able to complete all the needed amenities for the project and train the personnel who will be operating the facility for us to be able to produce quality clay filters useful to victims of calamities in the future,” Sicat stressed.
The clay filter facility is one of the major disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) projects of the DOST-CAR in order to allow disaster victims to be able to produce quality potable water from rain water among others during calamities.
He cited the clay filter can produce several liters of potable water fvrom unclean water within several hours and calamity victims could utilize the same for their emergency needs for potable water while allowing them to recover from the situation.
According to him, the clay filter produced by the Bila Pottery Group is affordable considering that it costs around P200 depending on the needs of the calamity victims.
Aside from being able to produce quality clay filters useful for disaster situations, the facility will also serve as one of the livelihood projects of the agency that was downloaded to the beneficiary group, especially in this town.
Sicat said the group will sell the produced clay filters to the different local governments in the Cordillera, and Regions I and II in order to be used to guarantee the availability of potable water supply for domestic purposes during times of emergency situations and calamities.
He said the agency and the beneficiaries will launch the project anytime this coming October in order make the production of clay filters commercially viable to help increase the opportunities of generating jobs for local residents and establish a sustainable source of livelihood for the beneficiaries.
Sicat cited there will be a bright future for the clay filter facility considering the expected occurrence of calamities that tend to affect the supply of potable water in remote communities of the country, thus, there will bed good source of income for the people.
According to him, funding for the project was sourced out from the agency in order to establish sustainable sources of livelihood in the countryside and make use of available resources for effective and efficient disaster risk reduction and management.
Sicat appealed to the beneficiaries to maximize the utilization of the facility in order to put to use whatever available resources for effective and efficient disaster risk reduction and management considering that the town will be the source of the clay filter facility.
