Toledo gets boost in water supply

CEBU, Philippines — Amid the crippling drought due to El Niño, Carmen Copper Corporation is augmenting the water supply in the different barangays of Toledo City by supplying 1,200 cubic meters or 1.2 million liters of water daily through the Toledo City Water District (TCWD).

Carmen Copper, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Mining which operates the Toledo Copper Mine, has also recently deployed its water truck to ration additional 70,000 liters of clean water every day free of charge.

The emergency water delivery is implemented in Barangay Biga, one of the critical barangays reportedly suffering from lack of running water due to the effects of El Niño and Barangays Poog, Don Andres Soriano and Media Once.

Annually, the company supplies an average of 490,000 cubic meters of water to the communities through TCWD at subsidized rates. It has benefitted thousands of households, schools, offices and commercial centers in Toledo City.

To provide the Carmen Copper communities access to clean water is in support of the United Nations’ sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) for clean water and sanitation.

Other social development projects aligned with SDG 6 is the installation of six aqua towers in six elementary schools in Toledo City to provide clean and safe drinking water to school children especially in hard to reach areas.

The company also implemented water system projects in the different host and neighboring barangays to improve health and sanitation and boost local economic activities.

Carmen Copper sources its water for industrial and domestic requirements from the Malubog Dam, one of the largest privately owned reservoirs in the country. It was constructed in June 1970 by Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation (Atlas Mining) with a surplus capacity of 100,000 cubic meters of potable water per day. —  FPL (FREEMAN)