MANUS, Papua New Guinea – The people of Bipi Island, in northern Papua New Guinea, are now benefitting from a small scale solar desalination system for their drinking water needs.
Funded by the Pacific Environment Community, the $4 million project was supported by the government of Japan through the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS).
As reported by EMTV, the solar powered desalination system is fitted with two 3000 litre water tanks and can pump upto 300 litres per hour, running upto six hours per day.
In total, three machines were installed and will be maintained by locals, who were trained by Japanese engineers from Sojitz Technology Company.
Communities on Bipi, Mbuke and Whal Islands are expected to benefit from the project and have been affected by seawater intrusion into existing water supplies.
The project was officially handed over to the national planning and monitoring minister, Richard Maru by Japan’s Ambassador Satoshi Nakajima during a handover meeting on Bipi Island.
Below you can watch a video on the project, courtesy of EMTV:
