DoST explores desalination tech to address water shortage, revive salt industry

The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) on Monday said that it is exploring desalination technology to help address the country’s capital’s depleting water supply amid El Niño while also helping revitalize the local salt industry.

“One, we’re looking more into desalination technology,” Niñaliza H. Escorial, deputy executive director and officer in charge of the office of the executive director of the DoST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD), told BusinessWorld in Filipino. This is in response to a question on whether the agency is pursuing technologies that could help address Metro Manila’s potential water supply problems.

“The technology has two objectives: you’re getting water while also getting the salt,” Ms. Escorial said on the sidelines of DoST-PCIEERD’s 16th anniversary celebration.

Angat Dam, which supplies more than 90% of Metro Manila’s potable water, dropped by another 0.62 meter (m) to 160.71m on Monday from 161.33m on Sunday, based on the 8:00 a.m. dam monitoring data of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

This leaves the dam less than a meter above its critical water level of 160m.

Ms. Escorial said the agency’s desalination technology efforts are focused on improving the efficiency of previously developed local technologies.

“It’s more on the development of the membrane system that will really filter better and faster,” she said.

Once fully developed, the technology is eyed to be easily deployable, with initial plans to install it in island communities experiencing shortage of potable water.

These areas are also considered ideal locations because the technology produces salt, which could help reduce the country’s reliance on imports.

Around 83% of the salt distributed in the country is imported, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Ms. Escorial said that the DoST-PCIEERD’s desalination technology remains under development. She expressed hope that the technology would be ready for practical use by 2028.

“As of now, all of our roadmaps will end in 2028. So hopefully by 2028, we have something useful already,” she said. — Edg Adrian A. Eva