A successful young Turkish engineer in the U.K. offered to help quench the needs of earthquake survivors with her innovation.
Mechanical engineer Beren Kayalı, along with her fellow co-founder of the startup company Deploy, invented the world's first-ever foldable and inflatable water tank and now wants officials to help her deploy the system in quake-hit regions of southern Türkiye to help solve problems of water sanitation and supply for the millions affected.
In the aftermath of dual quakes that leveled thousands of homes on Monday, Kayalı told Anadolu Agency (AA) people in the earthquake zone must have their basic needs met with surviving amid the freezing winter temperatures.
With her award-winning air-inflatable water tanks that cut back massively on transport and deployment time, she hopes to ease the pain of survivors, many of whom now reside in containers and tents in the countryside.
"As those in the industry would know, all (water tank) constructions made of plastic, concrete, or galvanized steel normally need a concrete base to be prepared," she said, adding that it takes one or two months for this concrete to dry and become ready for use.
In comparison, Kayalı's tanks, which use concrete canvas fabric technology instead of a slab, weigh only 250 kilograms (about 550 pounds). As a result, they can be transported by plane, helicopter, or truck in their compact form to be inflated on-site in 24 hours with two people.
It's beneficial in impoverished rural areas or for disaster relief, from earthquakes to wildfires, floods and drought, which is exactly what they were designed for, said Kayalı, the first Turkish woman to receive a British Royal Family scholarship, is currently based in Wales.
"The sole purpose and vision of the firm have been to provide safe water storage units for rural areas since the beginning of this journey. Since I have this know-how on water infrastructure, I want to donate some of these tanks to quake-hit provinces."
Help for planning
Kayalı is now looking for engineers, officials, and other professionals to help plan the deployment of the tanks once in Türkiye.
Underlining the logistic challenges of getting aid materials to the quake zone, Kayalı said she wanted to work with officials and engineers in Türkiye to plan for the tanks on site for the victims. "These tanks can be used both for drinking water and septic (tanks), so we can very easily prevent a cholera outbreak. We need people to plan it."
"If it's for drinking water, it can very easily (be fitted) with a filter system and pipeline. But, if it's going to be used as a septic (tank), it must be buried underground. So, I'm trying to reach people who can do the engineering and technical planning for this."
"So, we're just looking for help to make the right connections to be able to send the right products to the right people at the moment," she said, noting that the company currently had 18 tanks in stock, with the capacity build three more per week.
Turkish authorities have said that the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes affected an area of about 110,000 square kilometers (about 42,470 sq miles) in Türkiye, spanning 10 of its provinces: Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Şanlıurfa, and Kahramanmaraş, where they were centered.
Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in less than 10 hours.
A total of 28,044 people have been evacuated from the quake-hit regions, according to the most recent figures from the country's disaster management authority, and placed in designated accommodation areas and guesthouses.
At least 16,170 people were killed and 64,194 others injured by the earthquakes, according to Turkish officials.
Call to action
Urging her fellow engineers in Türkiye to "rise to the occasion" and unite the industry's know-how for the quake victims, Kayali said:
"I'm calling for civil engineers, mechanical engineers, industrial engineers who have a background in planning for this situation so we can ... help every person looking for our help right now."
"Right now, the rescue job is still going on, but we must start planning. For example, how are we going to provide water to already wracked hospitals?" she asked, noting that field hospitals had also been deployed in many areas.
"But also, (how are going to provide water) for all those injured and just sitting by pitch fires and trying to survive right now?"
"It's time for us to unite our know-how in the industry to rise to the occasion."
So far, Deploy has sent its tanks to countries including Ecuador, India, Greece, and Saudi Arabia.