CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has reported a loss of 32,000 cubic meters per day in their daily production following the dry spell in the last week of September extending to the first week of October 2019.
MCWD’s production is now at 215,000 cubic meters per day compared to its normal daily production of 247,000 cubic meters per day.
The biggest loss of 10,000 cubic meters was attributed to the drying of the Jaclupan facility, which is now dry at the surface due to the rising temperatures.
Earlier, MCWD also reported a 20,000-cubic-meter per day drop in its production due to the lower delivery from its private supplier from Consolacion because of saltwater intrusion and the effects of the dry spell of the supply from Carmen.
The supply drop from these sources affected consumers in Liloan, Consolacion, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu City, Cordova and parts of Cebu City, like Mabolo, Carreta, T. Padilla, Tejero and Lorega San Miguel.
This time, the lower supply from MCWD’s two sources also affect consumers in Cebu City’s barangays Bulacao, Basak Pardo, Mambaling, Basak San Nicolas, Inayawan Banawa, Capitol Site and Calamba.
MCWD advised the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee (CDRRMC) of two hydrants where the barangay or the city’s water trucks and the Bureau of Fire Protection could withdraw water from since supply in those areas are still enough.
With this, MCWD started a daily rationing of water through trucks to Barangays Sambag 1, 2, Sta. Cruz, and Cogon Ramos in Cebu City.
They also coordinated with the CDRRMC and Compostela Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee for the location of hydrants where local government-owned trucks or local fire departments can withdraw water from for distribution to barangays with low pressure to no water.
MCWD urged the public to conserve water as much as they can as water supplies dwindle. /bmjo