The observance of World Water Day last Thursday (March 22) served as a perfect time to spread word about Tulip Table Top, the easy-to-use, low-cost water purification device invented by Dutch company Basic Water Needs (BWN) and exclusively distributed by Filipino start-up Southlight Technology and Distribution. The latter is a company created for the primary purpose of “providing safe drinking water to every Filipino.”

During the media launch held at Urban Café Wilcon City Center in Visayas Avenue, QC, the product was introduced as borne out of the idea that “safe drinking water should be simple, affordable, and available.” Features and benefits include removal of bacteria and bad taste, easy to assemble-use-maintain, and its filter capable of taking 7,000 liters.

“As potable water continues to become a scarce resource, Southlight’s goal is to reach every Filipino household because every Filipino deserves to have access to safe and affordable drinking water,” said Southlight’s managing director Wilbert Cua.





BWN, which oversees product design to distribution, pledged to use local suppliers and assemblers to make Tulip Table Top a household name. The Netherlands-based company is highly regarded globally for its innovative solutions to household water and its safe storage.

Back in late 2016, a trade mission from the Netherlands, a country valued as one of the biggest investors in the Philippines, flew to Manila. One of the visit’s main feature was a lecture about “The Dutch in Philippine waters: Working together on sustainable solutions to live with water and in the future.”

It is said that both the Netherlands and the Philippines “continue to foster great business partnership because of the belief in the cooperation and mutual assistance that grow out of it.”

Cua spoke about the business side of things, “In the perspective of selling it to the market, we’re online and we’re tapping our dealer network and right partners. At the end of the day we want to deal with and provide the most basic need of the poorest of the poor, which is clean drinking water.”

Tulip filter is crucially based on gravity which eliminates electricity use and complex processes. It is ideal for households of 4-5 members and in areas without suitable drinking water. It purifies four to five liters of water per hour.

According to the UN International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are still 663 million people who do not have access to clean water. It is still “a huge concern in the world today.”

The Dutch business development manager for BWN Anne Marie Kemaltha noted that her company supplied the product for those directly affected during the Yolanda typhoon aftermath and described the recipients as being “happy with it.” The Marawi soldiers were also said to have benefited from the water filter device.

Based on a performance evaluation report, Tulip Table Top complied with the requirements and passed the Philippine standard for drinking water.