Solar Water Smart Card

WorldWater Corporation recently shipped the first production models of its proprietary “AquaCard” (Smart Card) and “Aqua Meter” systems to the island province of Cebu in the Philippines to initiate utility water service in communities, according to CEO Quentin Kelly.

The new debit card systems operate with WorldWater’s solar water pumping stations in the community. Residents insert the card into an AquaMeter which then delivers the requested number of liters of clean drinking water from the solar pump nearby. The microchip on the card reads when the card needs to be recharged by the customer at the community bank. The user can purchase up to 1000 liters per charge at a cost-per-liter significantly less than water from other sources, he explained.

The bank then turns over the money to the community government, which uses the funds to pay back the loan used to purchase the equipment and installation from WorldWater.

“The process enables small communities to borrow funds from banks for clean water utility service for the first time,” said Dr. Anand Rangarajan, vice president of WorldWater. “These cards mean the development of a new economy for rural areas. Ronda, in central Cebu, is the first community to make use of our program.”

WorldWater established the “smart card” as a financing solution for community water production as well as a method to remove problems associated with the payment collection process. Communities recover their costs of supplying the equipment purchased from WorldWater and are able to offer a more standardized utility service.

“After fully establishing this Water Utility Program, we will alter the microchip on the AquaCard to make it a PowerCard and supply the same service for rural electricity to be generated by our solar systems,” said Kelly.

WorldWater: Pennington, NJ.

FROM Solar Today, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner