Water applications in 34 villages suspended

THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has not lifted the suspension of new service connection in 34 villages in Metro Cebu that have been experiencing low water to no water supply.

Noel Dalena, MCWD acting general manager, said they would only process new applications once water supply in these areas had stabilized.

“It started last year during the height of El Niño phenomenon. So the management decided to suspend the processing of new application for service areas with inadequate supply base,” he said.

These villages were located in elevated areas which made it difficult to bring in water during peak hours.

Most of them were located in Cebu City — Barangay Guadalupe (Sitio Banawa), Kamputhaw, Oppra, Capitol Site, Lahug, Busay, Apas, Banilad, Talamban, Bacayan, San Jose and Pit-os.

Also affected were Barangays Babag, Ibabao, Agus, Looc, Buyong, Marigondon, Soong, Maribago, Punta Engaño, Suba-Basbas and Calawisan in Lapu-Lapu City.

The others were in Barangays Looc and Umapad in Mandaue City; Lagtang in Talisay City; Gabi, Alegria, Poblacion, Catarman, Day-as and Pilipog in Cordova town; Tagaytay and Calero in Liloan town.

Dalena said MCWD continued to serve these areas daily although their water supply would not be 24 hours.

“Padayon ang MCWD sa pag-serbisyo aning mga lugara og pinaagi sa supply management, makaagas g’yud ang mga konsumidor matag adlaw aron makasawod sila (The MCWD continues servicing these areas. Through supply management, the consumers would get water supply every day to allow them to store water),” he said.

To address the problem of inadequate water supply, Dalena said they were working to tap additional sources.

In August, Cebu Manila Water Development (CMWD), a bulk water supplier in Carmen town, Cebu, was increasing its water supply to MCWD by 3,000 cubic meter per day from 35,000 cu m per day to 38,000 cu m to address the water problem in the northern part of Metro Cebu.

Dalena added that Danao City government had already started its bulk water supply project that would be able to supply 20,000 cu m per day in mid 2018.

Aside from these, MCWD was conducting well exploration and drilling, entering into new bulk water supply agreements, among others, just to increase water supply in Metro Cebu.

MCWD was also starting to use desalination technology to process sea water and make it potable.

In the meantime, the MCWD was encouraging the consumers in these 34 villages to store water during off-peak hours because their supply was usually affected during peak hours — from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. when water demand was high.

Water supply of MCWD was affected by various factors including increasing demand due to rising population and rapid development and climate change that triggered long drought.

Dalena pointed out that last year, 42,000 cu m of water was lost during the prolonged drought caused by El Niño phenomenon.