WOTA Begins Providing Bathing Services at Evacuation Centers in Areas Affected by Water Outages Following the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake; Handwashing Services to Follow
WOTA extends its heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake.
As of 6:00 a.m. on July 29, 2026 according to the Cabinet Office, two days after the earthquake struck, approximately 84,000 households across 12 municipalities in three prefectures—primarily in Kumamoto Prefecture—were reported to be without water, according to the Cabinet Office.
Upon receiving an official request from Kumamoto Prefecture, WOTA has commenced the provision of bathing facilities using our Portable Water-Regeneration System “WOTA BOX”, to help maintain hygienic conditions in the affected areas. In addition, preparations are underway to provide clean handwashing facilities using Water-Regeneration Handwashing Stand “WOSH”.
This initiative is conducted pursuant to the “Agreement on Wide-Area Mutual Aid for Equipment and Materials for Daily-Use Water in Times of Disasters,” signed between WOTA and Kumamoto Prefecture on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. This agreement is part of an effort to promote the “Inter-Municipal Wide-Area Mutual Aid Platform for Water Recycling Systems”—a framework for inter-municipal support that aggregates domestic water equipment and materials nationwide and rapidly delivers them to disaster-stricken areas via a prefecture-led aggregation and deployment model promoted by JWAD (Japan Water Association for Disaster).
On July 30, 2026, WOTA completed the installation of “WOTA BOX” in Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture, and began providing bathing services. Additional installations are planned from July 31 onward. Under the agreement and within the JWAD framework, approximately 400 units of daily-use water equipment are currently being mobilized to Kumamoto Prefecture for deployment to evacuation centers and medical and welfare facilities in areas affected by water outages.
With the cooperation of municipalities, partner companies, and other stakeholders across Japan, WOTA will continue to expand bathing and handwashing support in water outage areas and help ensure hygienic conditions for people affected by the disaster.
WOTA sincerely hopes for the swift recovery of the affected communities and will devote its full efforts to ongoing relief efforts.
Relief Activities
Provision of the Portable Water-Regeneration System “WOTA BOX” and the Water-Regeneration Handwashing Stand “WOSH”.
〈References〉
WOTA BOX: https://wota.co.jp/wota-box/
WOSH: https://wota.co.jp/wosh/
JWAD (Japan Water Association for Disaster): https://jwad.org/
