Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines Dana Kursh said she is open to study solutions that could help address the water quality problems in El Nido after learning about its worries on coliform pollution.
Kursh, in a meeting with the local media in Puerto Princesa City, offered to reach out and explain the situation to Israeli water technology companies and look for methods to collaborate to improve the town’s water.
“I will share the concern that you had shared with me about El Nido and I will ask them to go there and to see if they can help,” Kursh said.
Israel is widely known for having advanced water technologies because it has limited freshwater resources.
Much of the country is arid, compelling it to invest in innovations to secure its water supply.
The ambassador said their water treatment methods may be able to help places in the Philippines like El Nido which are facing water quality problems.
She cited Israel’s experience in wastewater recycling, desalination, reverse osmosis, and other water purification technologies that have enabled the country to overcome water scarcity.
“I think that when it comes to coliform, definitely I’m sure that we can help,” she said.
Israeli companies, she said, are already working on water-related projects in the Philippines.
She pointed to an ongoing partnership between Filipino company Vivant Corporation and Israeli water engineering technology firm WaterMatic, whose technology is being used in Puerto Princesa to treat wastewater before it is discharged back into the environment.
“The technology that made this kind of cleaning of the water is an Israeli technology,” she said.
Kursh also said that similar technologies could be explored for El Nido if found suitable for the municipality’s needs.
The discussion came after journalists informed the ambassador about El Nido’s coliform contamination problem, which has affected some groundwater sources in the town.
Asked whether Israeli technology could help address the issue, Kursh said Israel has successfully developed systems that allow treated water to be safely reused.
“We are able to very much clean the water,” she said, noting that Israel’s expertise has been built through decades of innovation driven by limited freshwater resources.
El Nido, considered a tourism gem in the country, has been battling water concerns stemming from fecal coliform contamination of its groundwater and coastal waterways for a long time.
Environmental authorities have cited untreated wastewater, insufficient sewerage connections, rapid tourism expansion, and population growth as the sources of the problem.
