MCWD eyes in-house wells as additional supply of water

The Metro Cebu Water District is expecting a decrease in the daily production starting next month because the rainfall volume is also expected to decrease with  summer just around the corner. | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) is looking into developing in-house wells to increase the water supply in the metro.

In a statement, MCWD said the new in-house production wells would be expected to yield a total of 3,000 cubic meters (cu. m.) per day that would benefit consumers in Barangays Sambag I and Capitol Site in Cebu City, Barangay Cubacub in Mandaue City, and Barangay San Isidro in Talisay City.

“The water district is prioritizing in-house wells in areas where the demand for water is high since these are easy and fast to develop and are not easily affected by the dry spell as well,” said MCWD Acting General Manager Stephen D. Yee.

The water district also said that in-house wells as existing private wells that were being developed and managed by MCWD technical teams.

MCWD is expecting a decreasing trend in the daily production starting this month when the rainfall volume is expected to fall below the average as the onset of summer nears.

However, they are expecting private bulk water suppliers to start delivering water to identified points by June.

This will be an additional 23,000 cubic meter per day of water supply to the metro.

Mactan Rock Industries Inc. will deliver 10,000 cu. m. per day from its wells in Compostela, 2,000 cu. m. per day from its facility in Marigondon-Gabi and 3,000 cu. m. per day in Tejero, Cebu City.

Supply will further improve in northern Metro Cebu when the Danao City Bulk Water Supply Project starts flowing either on the second or third quarter of this year.

The project is expected to deliver about 10,000 cu. m. per day. The Danao City Government needs to lay an additional two kilometers of pipe to be able to deliver to MCWD’s injection point in Compostela.

MCWD said it had been actively securing additional volume to improve the service hours in areas where supply would no longer be available for 24 hours.

As part of its short-term solutions to the water scarcity, the MCWD is coordinating with government, non-government and the private sectors for possible partnerships in developing groundwater wells. /dbs