Tags: Inventions, Marine Life, Research and Development
By Anna Valmero
TAGUIG CITY, METRO MANILA – To reduce flooding during the rainy season, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) introduced a local technology that can scoop up water hyacinth that often clogs the city’s waterways.
Instead of using harmful chemicals, the water hyacinth harvester mechanically removes water hyacinths using a specially developed conveyor system. It collects up to 25 kilograms of load and dumps the collected plants to the riverbank or an assisting barge.
Known locally as water lily, water hyacinth is infamous for clogging water systems. Among the country’s hyacinth-infested waterways are the Liguasan Marsh in Central Mindanao, Pasig River in Metro Manila, and Laguna de Bay.
Mechanically removing the plant is the better alternative than chemical use because the latter is hazardous to both plants and animals, said DoST Secretary Mario Montejo.
The prototype, which was developed by engineers of the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), can still be modified and enhanced, depending on the required size and body of water where it will be used, according to Montejo.
“The DoST is very open to the adoption of the technology and also the improvement of the equipment,” he added.
To add a business solution to communities along riverbanks, DoST is developing technologies that utilize water hyacinth as raw material for handicrafts, biogas, animal feeds, and geotextiles.
(Photo courtesy of DOST-MIRDC)
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