Photon Water Technology s.r.o. (“the Company” or “Photon Water”), a subsidiary of Photon Energy N.V., carried out its third mission to the Republic of Peru this year to implement its water treatment project under the Czech Development Agency’s B2B programme. In order to ensure that communities in the Tacna region have access to a long-term reliable supply of clean and safe water, the company has deployed its solution in various public spaces and informed the wider public about the importance of quality drinking water.
“By 2020 we plan to successfully put in place up to ten small water treatment plants in public spaces and to train staff to ensure their operation and maintenance,” explains Dr Petr Kvapil, Managing Director of Photon Water.
The Company successfully installed five water treatment plants at squares and schools of the towns of Candarave, Ilabaya and Chipe. All three villages have long been struggling with the poor sanitary quality of drinking water supply, as demonstrated by the presence of various pollutants, such as carcinogenic arsenic, that is often found at concentrations 70 times higher than both the Peruvian national standard and the WHO provisional guideline.
“Due to volcanic and mining activities some districts in Peru suffer from widespread boron and arsenic contamination of the groundwater used for drinking, the latter being carcinogenic and thus posing serious health implications,” explains Dr Kvapil.
In addition to the installations, Photon Water has organized an awareness campaign aimed at the wider public in the region to raise awareness about different aspects of the problem, such as the importance of quality water, possibilities of technological solutions to the problem, environmental factors of the situation and, last but not least, the influence of untreated contaminated water on human health.
“We are very pleased that our school can be part of this project. Our village has long been struggling with the reduced quality of drinking water that is so essential for human health. Thanks to Photon Water Technology, our pupils will now have access not only to clean and safe water, but also to information that will get them thinking critically about the importance of quality drinking water in general”, said Mireya Raynelle Figueroa Parodi, Principal of the primary school Collegio de Chipe, when asked about her expectations of the water treatment plant installed in its school premises.
The implementation phase of the project followed a successful project feasibility study and a 50% grant funding from the Czech Development Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Development Cooperation Programme for the Private Sector in the field of foreign development cooperation of the Czech Republic.
Picture 1: Residents of Candarave line up for clean and safe water.
Picture 2: Mireya Raynelle Figueroa Parodi (second from right), Principal of the primary school where the water treatment plant has been installed, pictured with (l to r) Vojtech Stejskal, Nadit Paredes and Eduardo García, members of the Photon Water team.
Picture 3: The drinking water treatment plant by Photon Water, installed in public spaces in the villages of Candarave, Ilabaya and Chipe, produces daily up to 190 litres of clean and safe water.
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Martin Kysly
T +420 774 810 670
E martin.kysly@photonenergy.com