WOTA Signs Agreement with Wakayama Prefecture to Strengthen the 'Inter-Municipal Mutual Aid Platform for Water Recycling Systems'

WOTA Corp. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Yosuke Maeda; hereinafter 'WOTA') has concluded an 'Agreement on Wide-Area Mutual Aid for Domestic Water Equipment During Disasters' with Wakayama Prefecture. This agreement is part of an initiative to promote the construction of a wide-area mutual aid platform organized by prefecture. It aims to strengthen the system for securing domestic water during disasters in collaboration with JWAD (Japan Water Association for Disaster), which organizes and operates the platform, and the prefectures. ## This agreement aims to construct a mutual support system for domestic water equipment among prefectures to secure sanitary environments and domestic water in evacuation shelters during disasters. The specific collaborative details are as follows: - Agreement Name: Agreement on Wide-Area Mutual Aid for Domestic Water Equipment During Disasters - Purpose: To establish a mutual support system among municipalities to secure domestic water and sanitary environments at evacuation shelters during disasters. - Main Collaborative Details: - Provision of domestic water equipment (such as 'WOTA BOX', 'WOSH') from unaffected municipalities to affected municipalities during a disaster. - Rapid information sharing among stakeholders during a disaster (damage status, needs for water equipment, installation/operation/removal schedules, etc.). - Consolidation and optimal distribution of equipment centered around prefectures. - System development during peacetime, such as training and advance distributed deployment. - Coordination support among municipalities through the JWAD secretariat. ## The wide-area mutual aid platform is a mutual support mechanism among municipalities that enables the rapid delivery of domestic water equipment to disaster areas on a national scale, utilizing a consolidation and deployment system with prefectures acting as hubs. Equipment held dispersedly by individual municipalities is tracked and organized by prefecture during peacetime, and consolidated to the affected prefecture when a disaster strikes. By assessing water demand and making optimal distributions, it aims to deliver necessary support 'within one week of a disaster occurring.'