March 8, 2023 – Planet Water Foundation, a leading non-profit organization focused on providing access to clean, safe water, is deploying 12 of its disaster response water filtration systems in Türkiye as the country continues calls for global support to provide drinking water to earthquake damaged communities.
The AquaBlock systems are specifically designed to be easily airlifted and rapidly deployed to provide safe drinking water in response to natural disasters and when water supply is disrupted. Planet Water is supporting deployments in seriously damaged communities in Türkiye with their extensively trained and experienced emergency response team that is paired with deployment partner Xylem. Xylem, a global water technology company with presence in Türkiye has deployed a local team of employees alongside local distributors, the Türkiye Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and the Red Crescent to provide support with the identification of deployment sites and transport of the systems.
“Our AquaBlock is designed to perform in the most difficult locations and situations where no other solution can rapidly supply clean drinking water using non-potable sources. Crated and shipped as air cargo within hours, they require minimal set-up and training, and can operate using a variety of power sources ranging from petrol to electric,” said Mark Steele, founder and CEO of Planet Water Foundation. “Our history in drinking water system technology is saving lives today around the world and we are thankful that our partnerships facilitate our expanding emergency response efforts.”
“Our mission is to solve water,” said Altuğ Bilgiç, Xylem’s Managing Director for Turkiye, “and when this immense tragedy struck so close to our own home, we knew we had to act to alleviate the burden faced in the affected communities. With the support of Xylem’s global humanitarian disaster response team, and in close partnership with Planet Water, we’re bringing clean water to communities where water-borne disease has now made an already devastating situation even more deadly.”
The four-stage water filtration systems deliver 1,500 liters of purified drinking water per hour which is enough to support up to 10,000 people per day. The current deployment of 12 AquaBlock systems in Türkiye will sustain up to 120,000 people.
The earthquake response deployments in Türkiye are funded by Xylem Watermark, The Starbucks Foundation, Starbucks Corporation, Alshaya Group, Capital One Philippines, Ingersoll Rand, and the BD Foundation, the philanthropic arm of global medical technology company BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company).
Planet Water Foundation has deployed AquaBlock systems in 10 countries on four continents in response to earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, floods, hurricanes, military conflicts, and humanitarian crises.
