Water is an essential resource to life and access to potable water is a key driver to sustainable development.
As a champion for development, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is introducing the Air-to-Water Technology as a modality under the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).
The KALAHI-CIDSS program is globally recognized for its community driven development (CDD) approach in assisting poor communities towards progress. The approach entails that members of the community actively participate in the identification of their needs, preparing for project proposals, and in the implementation of their projects.
Focusing on bringing sustainable development to communities in most need, the KALAHI-CIDSS is introducing the Air-to-Water Technology or AWT — an innovative solution that extracts atmospheric moisture to provide sustainable access to clean water in areas frequented by natural disasters.
The AWT is a technology where safe drinking water is generated from drawing humidity from the air. It has been employed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) in emergency operations, as well as in global deployments to demonstrate its effectiveness in disaster operations.
In collaboration with the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) and the Manila Water Foundation, the KALAHI-CIDSS Team conducted a site and validation assessment in the Municipality of Cawayan, Masbate. The Cawayan town was evaluated for its technical feasibility and readiness for instituting the AWT in the community.
According to Director Bernadette Mapue-Joaquin, the National Program Manager (NPM) of the agency’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), the Department believes that the innovative use of the AWT is a sustainable solution to address the needs of water-scarce communities, especially in disaster prone areas.
“Water is a basic need and communities without sustained access to safe, clean water will have difficulty achieving progress, especially for those that are often affected by disasters. By bringing the technology through the KALAHI-CIDSS, the communities are given the opportunity to have a long-term solution to problems concerning the supply of potable water,” Director Mapue pointed out.
After the site and validation assessment, the KALAHI-CIDSS program will then proceed to evaluate the results and prepare for the next steps in line with the AWT implementation. (GDVF)