LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Cordillera office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-CAR) announced that the ceramic clay filter processing plant established by the agency in Bauko, Mountain Province is now mass producing ceramic clay filters that could be used by residents in filtering water for their household requirements.
DOST-CAR assistant regional director Norberto Cobaldes said that the local group organized for the purpose of putting up the plant was already able to sell over 1,000 pieces of ceramic clay filters to a Manila-based client and some residents in the municipality wanting to test the use of the filter in producing potable water for their requirements in their residences.
He added that the plant continues to produce clay filters in preparation for the influx of orders from prospective customers from the different parts of the country, especially with the onset of the rainy season, where the demand for the supply of potable water among the people will be very high.
“We hope that the market for the locally produced ceramic lay filters will continue to improve as the months pass by so that the endeavor will be a self-sustaining one as envisioned for the local pottery group to have a decent source of livelihood,” Cobaldes stressed.
The establishment of the ceramic clay filter processing plant in barangay Bila, Bauko, Mountain Province is a convergence project of the DOST-CAR, the Cordillera office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bauko municipal government and the local pottery group which are the beneficiaries of the livelihood project.
The DOST-CAR official explained that one ceramic clay filter can treat 2 to 3 liters of water to become potable in an hour and that its filtering capacity could expand up to one year depending on how the user will care for the filter.
According to him, the local pottery group in charge of the operation of the plant is now accepting orders for the mass production of the ceramic filters which they could use in times of disasters when there is absence of sources of potable water so that people, especially those being brought to the evacuation centers, will have consistent supply of potable water.
DOST-CAR regional director Nancy Bantog claimed that the equipment for the production of the ceramic clay filter plant was funded under the agency’s sustainable assistance for local entrepreneurs while the materials such as clay will come from the clay in the municipality that was evaluated by technical experts as the best for the production of the filter because of its supposed composition.
She emphasized interested individuals and groups wanting to order their own ceramic clay filter from the local producers could get in touch with the agency, the Bauko municipal government or the producers themselves for them to be able to have their own ceramic clay filter that could be used during emergency situations.
Bantog revealed that the put up of the clay filter processing plant will serve as an added source of income for the members of the local pottery group considering that they could still continue producing clay pots while managing the operation of the facility that was provided them by the government for their sustainable source of livelihood.
By HENT