Quezon City adopts initiatives to conserve water

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has ordered the conduct of information dissemination in case of water interruptions in Metro Manila.

“What we do is work with our public affairs and information service division to disseminate to our constituents the time of the water interruption so that they will be able to prepare,” Belmonte said in an interview during the opening of the World Water Exhibit at city hall yesterday.

Belmonte said Quezon City residents know what to do in case Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water start implementing water interruptions.

“Residents already know what to do as small water cutoffs have been ongoing,” she said.

Belmonte added that it is important to save water to preserve the level of Angat Dam.

“It is important that they know how to conserve water in washing their vehicles, cleaning their houses, brushing their teeth and taking a bath,” she said. “We give them tips to do these household chores without wasting water.”

Belmonte noted that months before President Marcos formed the El Niño Task Force, the local government had formed its own task force.

“The water concessionaires have yet to give dates and times (for the interruption), but we are anticipating this as one of the mitigating measures to address the effects of El Niño. We are ready here in Quezon City,” she said.

According to Belmonte, every local institution in the city was tasked to establish a water harvesting facility.

“In fact, most of our schools and buildings have this facility. We also encourage our barangays to have the same. We have to realize that water is valuable. We need to conserve water so that it will not affect our daily lives and businesses,” she said.