Modular Desalination Plants is a team of passionate engineers and business students working to revolutionize the water industry by minimizing energy requirements and maximizing water recovery and production with modular desalination. Our reverse osmosis competitors require large amounts of energy and electricity input, creating expensive constraints on the water industry, especially in areas like Quezon City and Metro Manila. Our goal is to expand upon the available research on direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and its availability to different communities.

On our first day of fieldwork, we wanted to jump right into reaching out to our contacts and formulating connections. We had a few companies we'd researched prior to arriving in the Philippines who all had some level of ties to water distribution, water security, and desalination processes. The first was NXTLVL Water, a fully off-grid and renewable desalination system with PV solar panels and reverse osmosis (RO). They specialize in providing water to remote communities, or those without a secure access to clean drinking water. They were top on our list for their work in rural communities and with desalination methods couples with some type of solar power. We did not receive any message from them after multiple outreach attempts and are hoping to just visit the location to find a contact in person. We would like to discover mainly how they target these remote communities, how they combat their technology with the weather patterns, and their interested in DCMD. We then contacted Manila Water Foundation and Dreibund Corporation. Manila Water Foundation specializes in the UN's sustainable development goals, especially in water distribution in the Philippines. After no response, we also decided to make this a location we visit in person. Dreibund corporation deploys reverse osmosis systems, so this contact felt like a great method to receive stronger cost analysis on RO technologies that could be compared with DCMD. Afterwards, we met with Eric about this conversation and decided to spend some more time handling cost analysis and different use cases/system diagrams for the technology. We did not want to give up on the science and potential within this technology but were in need of stronger use cases to share with potential stakeholders. 

Afterwards, we attended a lecture at AIM-DBI in Makati and ha the opportunity to learn about AIMS goals as a company and different startups AIM has funded. We learned about key values in ventures and beginning a startup, and how to stay successful along the way. 

Overall, our takeaway from this day was the need to narrow down on the problem and solution aspect of this technology. It comes down to a matter of "what is the problem at hand" and how can we solve it? Then, we can use this date to identify how DCMD fits into that. 

On our second day of fieldwork, we decided to jump right into our outreach. We first met up with the HEED students, our partners from UPD, and discussed the work they conducted on DCMD and remote communities in the area. The team informed us that they investigated a small island off the coast of Manila, Batangas, that has over 1200 inhabitants without an active source of drinking water. These islands take in water by boat, purchased through the household or the government. It was encouraged to explore avenues of how DCMD could be utilized to solve the lack of water in these areas who typically have electricity to use. in addition, the team spoke with us about the use of charcoal to power the system. Charcoal is a common household item in the Philippines used for heating and cooking. this factor makes it very inexpensive, and therefore a popular route to power DCMD without the need for sun or solar costs. 

Afterwards, we took a trip to Manila water Foundation where we spoke with a manager about the work the foundation doees with providing sustainable water and the diea of sharing our technology wih them. We could onyl receive contact information for the time being, but hope to plan with her again soon.

Finally, we headed back to UPD to brainstorm with Sean and Eric. We are currently exploring a cost analysis for RO and DCMD systems, as well as creating a slideshow of multiple different DCMD use cases and possibilities within the Philippines. We wanted to have a focus on rural or communities in need, and what problem this technology could solve, aside from the cost analysis. By teh end of the day, we made great strides on our sldie and were happy we ha dthe opporuntity to speak with helpful individuasl today. Tomorrow, our plan is to meet with Jonathan Co and his engineers to discuss testing a prototype on site in the Philippines, and to visit a local port to hear about their current water situation and needs.

On July 26, we had our Pitch presentations with AIM. In the morning, we worked on reviewing our pitch slides, finalizing our slide design, and adding in some helpful pictures and diagrams. We wrapped up a conclusion slide, then began working on our presentation prep. We discussed topics about our technology we should ensure to talk about during the pitch and ran through some questions and debates with each other to prepare for the open forum after our pitch. We worked on a presentation script for each slide and broke it up. We ran through our own practice presentation, then had Sean review our slides once more for some additional feedback. We also updated our google calendar, finalizing our in-person meeting with Bok Labastilla and Jay C. 

• Jay C has connections with local island municipalities and is involved in the governing processes of many local Barangays. he could be a useful source in pointing us towards a good Barangay direction. He can also help us understand the needs of these islands communities and how to address their financial situations as well.

During the AIM-DBI session, we heard from many startup companies and CEOs on different ventures currently going on. After our presentation, we spoke with Alsus Adiaton and Louie Villalon, two co-founders of Dali Innovations and VORTex; two companies specializing in renewable energy solution. They both provided ample feedback on our technology and recommendations on how to proceed with this venture. They mentioned examining fuel sources such as wood burning and biofuel for this technology, as well as fossil fuels on Barangay islands. Overall, their conversations provided a great step in the direction of solidifying more use cases for this technology.

On July 27, we focused in on preparing for our upcoming meetings. We finalized one last meeting with Teng Resultay on August 2nd. 

• Teng Resultay works at a garden and recycling plant under Jonathan Co. Their company has an issue with running out of clean and potable water during the summer and wanted to examine the possibilities of installing our system on their site to help account for their water insecurity. 

Now, we have meetings set up between July 29 and August 2nd, so we spent time brainstorming questions for each respective meet up. We then spent time reviewing the dissertation paper sent my Bok on his renewable solar applications and methods of reducing electricity costs in Filipino communities. We also continued our research on biofuel, charcoal, and fossil fuels for DCMD technology. One piece of feedback was to examine mountain regions where Filipino households burn wood and collect the vapor from the process. This vapor could be used to power DCMD. With that, we spent time doing research on these applications.

On July 31, we had a successful meeting with Jay Carizo. Jay works in connection with many local island municipalities, learning to understand and help meet their needs and requirements and establish local awards for these islands. During our meeting, we got to hear Jay's knowledge of all of these island communities and the struggles that so many islands face regarding safely managed drinking water. We shared our technology design with Jay and spoke about our goals to improve our prototype and develop a solar thermal heater-powered DCMD desalination system. Jay [provided insights onto the availability these islands have to internet, water, groundwater, electricity, and overall day to day cost. These specifics helped us gain some more knowledge on the requirements our system needs to be able to reach and help these communities. Jay also provided us with a generous number of connections to mayors of local islands in need of desalination units to provide clean water. We have begun speaking with those mayors over facebook and presenting introductions on ourselves and our technologies. After this meeting, we began looking back at our research and design process. Since we know that there is a need, what matters most is that we focus on meeting those needs. We must understand the ins and outs of the technology and begin our research process on our prototype and other scaled porotypes out there, identifying how we can reduce operational costs. We began conducting scientific literature reviews and setting up cost analysis tables for DCMD.

On August 1st, we met with Twinkle Floro, a water entrepreneur here in the Philippines who specializes in deploying ice plants to remote islands and understanding the community and cultural needs of these islands. Twinkle shared how she began her business, her means of operation, costs, and pricing, as well as feedback on our technology and integrating it into remote island communities. Twinkle's ice plans are manufactured by a company based in China. When an order is placed, manufacturing and shipping take about 6-8 months, and deployment is about 30 days. Islands put a downpayment on the plant when they order it, then finish the payment before installation. Twinkle has continued to develop this venture by understanding the culture of these communities and the proper way to implement new technology on indigenous islands. Typically, Twinkle shared that the average education level reaches 3rd grade for both adults and children. Therefore, when implementing her ice plants, she starts by assigning cooperatives to the ice plants; local fishermen who will manage the ice plant and the selling of ice. Then, once implemented, they allow the community to look at and touch the equipment. They let the plant become immersed in the islands, then proceeded with the training of 10-15 individuals to work at the ice plant. Typically, only about 2-3 value workers will stay. Once running, the cooperatives produce 1,000 kg of ice per day and sell 1 kg of ice for 10 pesos. The ice is mostly sold to fishermen, who utilize it to keep the fish fresh and able to be consumed. Learning about Twinkle's operation helped our team identify the different cultural aspects that tie into implementing new technologies. Desalination systems are incredibly technical, and understanding the proper way for communities to understand this tech, appreciate it, and maintain it requires patience and a proper approach. Twinkle opened up our technology to more considerations regarding a partnership with CIE plants, and as previously mentioned, learning the appropriate barriers and obstacles when it comes to piloting a system. After this meeting, we compiled our notes and continued organizing our research for DCMD and other types of distillation technologies. Doing so provides us with the means to determine the best desalination system for these communities. 

On August 2nd, we took a trip to Manly Plastics Inc, a plastic manufacturing and recycling plant owned by Jonathan Co. The purpose of this trip was to visit the factory sight and determine if our technology, solar DCMD, could be utilized to provide additional fresh water towards watering plants and cleaning plastic pallets. On sight, the factory has a large pond of water that they have currently been using to water plants and clean pallets. However, over time, the water has become more rbacksih and therefore has not been a good source of water for cleaning or gardening. In addition, the factory collects rain water that it also uses to water the garden, however during the dry season, they run out of usable rain water. When visiting the sight, Teng Resultay brough us to the brackish water site and the rain collection site. Near the brackish pond, there is large open space for placing a DCMD module, as well as access to electricity for the pumping of water into the system. If implemented, trucks would then be sued to transport the clean water output by DCMD to the gardens and plastic pallet cleaning warehouse. Furthermore, we visited the rain collection site to see how it collects and what causes it to evaporate and run out during the dry season. Overall, our technology is a good fit for the location and the usage. There is ample room for the system, and the brackish water will allow for a high output of potable water when using DCMD specifically. After the meeting, we spoke with Jonathan to further plan the implementation of our module for the following fieldwork trip. It was mentioned that the facility would require about 40,000L per day of potable water for gardening and cleaning. We will have a Zoom meeting to discuss the implementation and continuation of prototyping. Finally, we finished the day by organizing our final research plan which will include articles on RO, DCMD, AGMD, SGMD, VMD, and solar heating/power. Our goal is to have finalized literature reviews by the second week of September, allowing us to move forward with prototype manufacturing and/or testing. 

When looking back on our fieldwork journey, we all feel highly accomplished over the work we completed, the obstacles we crossed, and the private and public entities we had the opportunity to meet and speak with during our trip. Heading into fieldwork, the direction of where our technology could fit best was unclear. It was understood the benefits of solar water heater driven DCMD and its capabilities to utilize free energy while providing high quality potable water. What we did with this information was reach out to different water foundations, desalination companies, NGOs, and even individuals from universities and LinkedIn who were sufficient in solar, desalination, or municipalities. We organized meetings with multiple individuals who provided us guidance on community requirements, water requirements, the reasoning behind water insecurity, and island municipality regulations. Together, this information helped us understand the use case for this technology, and how it could be a solution to the expensive costs of current desalination systems. For many island municipalities, poverty has prevented access to potable water, and the only way of receiving this water is through traveling ships. there is little to no access to groundwater, electricity, or even technology. That is when desalination becomes the only solution for many of these islands; a system that can create a local enterprise, provide water, be maintained, and acknowledge these marginalized communities. Moving forward, the team will be focusing on research and design. Having compiled information on water requirements and the needs of these islands, the use case is clear. Therefore, it is a matter of adapting the technology to meet these needs. This process will include heavy research into the best form of desalination, research into solar power and solar coupled desalination, and finally design of a prototype capable of being implemented in a piloting sight by the summer of 2025.