THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is preparing to distribute water filtration kits ahead of the super El Niño, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Filipinos to collect rainwater in buckets.
At a palace press briefing on Wednesday, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian demonstrated how the Sawyer Water Filtration System works.
The filtration kit removes virtually all bacteria and protozoa and 100 percent of microplastics. The system can last up to 5 years.
Gatchalian said they will distribute the filtration kit next week in areas that are under a state of calamity.
“Starting next week in the villages… we will have installations, or later on, we can simply provide the kit, and they can install it in their own homes,” Gatchalian explained in Filipino.
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He clarified that families do not need to buy specialized buckets or containers.
“You don’t need to buy any. Whatever you already have will work, as long as it is clean,” Gatchalian said, noting that DSWD staff will assist residents during community activations by drilling holes in standard 20-liter household buckets and installing the filter attachments.
“It’s safe for babies; it’s potable water… It’s certified as a medical device by the Department of Health,” he added, assuring the public that the water produced by the filtration system is safe to consume.
To complement individual household distribution, the department is deploying “Big Rain Catcher” community units equipped with multi-spout faucets.
Designed to function as local refilling depots, these installations will be placed in open spaces such as basketball courts or schools to harvest sporadic rainfall and convert it into potable drinking water.
Gatchalian emphasized that the filtration program forms part of a broader, multi-pronged government strategy alongside DSWD’s Project LAWA (Local Adaptation to Water Access) and Binhi (Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished), which has established over 5,000 small water impounding projects nationwide — and the deployment of solar-powered atmospheric water generators in island communities like Masbate.
“Every drop counts,” said Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during the press briefing, stressing the initiative’s importance.
Last year, President Marcos publicly drank the water from the filtration kit.