6 baragays to benefit from water rationing

CEBU, Philippines — Residents of the six Cebu City barangays suffering from water crisis will be jointly supplied with potable and non-potable water by the city government, Cebu City Water Advisory Committee (CCWAC), and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).

The “Abag Tubig Program” is implemented by the city government to help the residents of Barangays Kamputhaw, Sambag I, Sambag 2, Apas, Punta Princesa, and Inayawan who are suffering from lack to no water supply.

At least six water tanks of potable water supply from MCWD will be delivered to these barangays on a daily basis. The city government will also supply four tanks of non-potable water. Two bulk water suppliers have also pledged to provide free potable water to the affected residents.

Bob Marquez, CCWAC chairman, said the program is a temporary solution to alleviate the water problem.

“We are seriously looking for other measures because if we have shortage now, which is rainy season, how much more in the summer? We believe we will be encountering more problems in terms of water supply,” said Marquez.

For the long-term plan, Mayor Edgardo Labella said the city government will strictly implement the Ordinance 2103 or the Water Conservation Program requiring the construction of rainwater tank or reservoir to be mandatory for houses and buildings including those in subdivision, commercial, industrial, institutional, and government offices on projects costing over P250,000.

The city ordinance was enacted and approved on November 22, 2006 yet. It was stated in the ordinance that one cubic meter of tank container for every 15 square meters of roof area and deck should be designed for commercial, industrial, institutional, and government agency buildings, while one-half cubic meter of tank container for every 15 square meters of roof area and deck should be designed for residential buildings.

Labella said the city ordinance will help a lot in water harvesting since the biggest source of water is the rainwater. He said he will sign an executive order directing the Office of the Building Official and City Engineering Office to peruse and take a look into the ordinance and come up with a recommendation.

Marquez said the plan can help reduce the demand of water supply in the city.

Meanwhile, water consumers in Barangay Tejero will now enjoy longer service hours with the commissioning of a private well that supplies water to MCWD.

In a statement, MCWD said that Mactan Rock Industries Inc. (MRII) operated its new well in Tejero last Monday after it was awarded a bulk supply contract for 25 years to supply 3,000 cubic meters per day.

Initially, the well is delivering 300 cubic meters per day to quickly address the water district’s need to supply water to its customers in the barangay.

“Our immediate action is to increase the service hours by developing in-house wells or by bidding out bulk supply contracts to private suppliers in critical areas like Tejero,” said MCWD Acting General Manager Stephen Yee.

The water demand in Metro Cebu is estimated at 500,000 cubic meter per day but MCWD produces only an average of 238,000 cubic meter per day.

Factors like population growth, economic and business opportunities and in-migration contributed to this fast increase in the water demand over the years in MCWD’s service area, which includes the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay and the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova.  FPL (FREEMAN)