By Anna Valmero

Necessity is the mother of invention.

For Antonio Mateo, he invented the “Direct Rainwater Catchment System Module” to help solve the impending water shortage in the country over the next five years, specifically potable water.

Mateo said the lack of clean drinking water has been a problem for kids in remote areas who do not have the convenience to buy distilled water from purifying stations.

He cited how kids from the mountains, like the recent death cases in Baler, die from drinking unsafe water. Most of the kids in the mountains do not even reach the age of five, he lamented.

Having been involved in water system technology development for 20 years, he said it is imperative to invent a module that will allow Filipinos to access clean water resources, especially rainwater.

The use of rainwater even at 50 percent utilization would allow savings and would secure surface and groundwater sources, said Mateo.

Using the module, demand on fresh water needs supplied by utility companies in urban areas or by groundwater wells and streams in rural areas will be reduced.

His family, for instance, uses rainwater for 80 percent of its total water supply for household use over five years now.

“Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting, storing and processing rainwater for human consumption and use,” said Mateo. It allows the provision of fresh water at or near the point of its use, such as the individual household, farm, industrial and commercial establishment.

The concept is nothing new; rain harvesting has been used a long time ago, said Mateo.

“Rainwater harvesting seeks to put rainwater to good use rather than be wasted through floods or natural runoff,” he said. He mentioned that the perennial rains in the Philippines can help supply water in many areas, thus benefiting people.

Mateo said that rainwater passes 14 out of the 16 parameters of potable water. Rainwater just needs to address two factors — reduction of acidity and purification from disease-causing microorganisms — for it to be potable, Mateo said.

According to Mateo, the rainwater becomes non-potable because when it falls on catchments such as roof, it usually washes adhering pollutants such as, dirt, soot, insect and animal manures — which all goes into the rainwater storage tanks or cisterns causing microbiological contamination. Added to these are dissolved solids in the atmosphere that initially comes with the first rainfalls.

To extend the use of rainwater for drinking, Mateo said the module can purify rainwater of sediments using different layers of ceramic filtration and remove, if not kill disease-causing microorganisms, such as E. Coli via a purifying chamber with non-pathogenic solution.

In rural areas, the purifying chamber can be replaced with malunggay seeds, Mateo said. The seeds are disinfecting and cleansing agent. Through three stages of rainwater purification of the module, he said rainwater can be used for watering plants and irrigation, bathing and flushing toilets and finally drinking.

Mateo said the rainwater harvesting industry will grow over the next five years.

Currently, he is looking for suppliers who can mass-produce the module design. He built the prototype with P100,000 budget.

Future plans for enhancement of the module include operation of the catchment’s roof by hydraulics or pneumatics, which can spread out when humidity changes as detected by sensors.