The system devised by students from the PSHS central campus is based on bentonite clay, a locally abundant material. It is a product of lahar erosion and an effective absorbent of dirt. It filters water from the Abacan River for the indigenous people. The water filtration system netted a science award for students from Philippine Science High School.
“Water scarcity is a serious problem that already affects more than 1.2 billion people in the world and climate change worsens this problem as excessive groundwater extraction causes land subsidence and increases vulnerability to flooding,” said students Jan Louise Cabrera and Joshua Miguel Danac. “With our project, we are able to make use of available resource such as bentonite to provide a means in bringing clean water to the Aeta communities in Sapangbato.”
The students said this filtration system can be replicated in other areas as an alternative way to get potable water.
“With improvements to our prototype filter, we believe that this can be of value to many other communities faced with the same problem,” they said.
