When our friends first told us about their Tulip portable water filter, I was thinking we needed at least one, in case The Big One strikes. After all, the first thing one needs in the event of a disaster is clean water, and then food and other basic supplies.
The Tulip water filter can filter: tap water, deep well water, rainwater, and water from rivers, lakes and ponds. It can even make Pasig River water potable.
But the selling point for Dada was the price. He did the math.
He figured drinking water via a Tulip costs Php0.34 per liter whereas, we've been spending about Php19.17/liter on distilled drinking water.
The water filter can filter up to 7,000 liters which is about an entire year's supply for the entire family. When it's time to change the filter, the cost per liter drops down considerably to just about Php0.03.
"Hindi lang pang disaster, let's use everyday na!" he said excitedly.
Especially because we've had instances when water from the refilling station tasted soapy, and then we started thinking about it seriously, like, "How clean is this really?" and "Is the plastic BPA-free?". Plus, given that we don't really see the process behind how the containers are washed and how water is filtered when it gets delivered to the house, we realized we really can't be 100% sure of the purification process all the time unless we go to the station and watch them refill our containers ourselves.
So we've been using this filter for about 3 months already, just filling the filter with water from the tap and I'm happy to share we've never had any issues with drinking Tulip filtered tap water.
The taste is comparable to distilled water, and because it's so affordable, I use it to wash our vegetables and fruits as well. I actually like splashing my face with water from it too, because I figured, it's filtered anyway!
The portable water filter containers are made from BPA-free plastic and the filter is Dutch-designed
Tulip Technology
Tulip is a Dutch-designed filter technology, made of diatomaceous earth, treated with nano silver to avoid growth of algae and to avoid recontamination of the filtered water. The filter element contains activated carbon to remove color and improve taste. This combination ensures that even turbid and highly contaminated water becomes safe to drink.
It removes 99.995% of harmful bacteria, 99.995% of protozoa, and 99% turbidity. This also helps prevent water borne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, giardia, cryptosporidiosis, typhus and schistosomiasis.
I was so impressed with how effective and cost-efficient it is, how easy it is to use, not to mention portable and requires no electricity and running water, that when the crisis in Marawi happened, I thought of how useful this would be there. So our group started sending filters there. Especially because I heard that diseases were spreading given the dire conditions on the ground.
Turns out, these water filters made it to Tacloban already, back in 2014, when these were distributed to the families displaced by Typhoon Haiyan.
Back then, it was brought in by the Dutch manufacturer, Basic Water Needs, together with organizations like Connect International, Safe Water International and several Rotary Clubs.
Today, it is now readily available locally. In fact, if you'd like to order for personal use, for donation, or for future use in the event of a calamity, you may order from Lazada or email waterfilterph@gmail.com for inquiries.
Given these uncertain times, it just makes sense to really have one at home. Of course, the cost savings is a no brainer too. This is a product that has so many benefits for families, both in the cities and rural areas, it just has to be shared.
