State-of-art reservoir to benefit Guadalupe

Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) inagurates its 1000 cu.m. reservoir at a donated lot of Monterrazas complex that caters Guadalupe and its neighboring areas. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

A P10-million water reservoir made of glass and steel was inaugurated yesterday by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) to improve water supply for residents of barangay Guadalupe.

MCWD pipes in the area have been suffering from leaks, affecting service but with the new 1,000 cubic-meter-capacity water reservoir, close to 4,000 households in barangay Guadalupe can look forward to more a steady supply of potable water.

This is the MCWD’s eighth reservoir. The rest are in Liloan, Consolacion, Lapu-Lapu City, Compostela, Talamban, Talisay City and Tisa in Cebu City.

The facility was built on a 791-square meter lot donated by Genvi Development Corp., the developer of Monterrazas de Cebu, near the entrance to the high-end village. With its location 103 meters above sea level, a pump is no longer needed to extract water.

Excess water from five deep wells of MCWD in Guadalupe will be stored at the new reservoir.
MCWD has a joint venture agreement with Abejo Waters Corp. for the supply of 3,500 cubic meters of water per day to serve 3,800 households in the area. With the additional supply from Abejo, MCWD needed a new reservoir to store water during off-peak hours so water could be readily distributed when needed.

“From the well, the water will be pumped directly to the water system and satisfy the needs of the consumers below and at night, when the demand is low, the water will go directly to the reservoir,” said Jose Eugene Singson, MCWD’s OIC general manager.

Before the reservoir was completed, pipes in Guadalupe suffered from leaks caused by water pressure when there is low demand.

“We are using state-of-the-art technology with a fusion of glass and steel. This is part of our continuing effort to improve services. This is only the beginning,” said MCWD director Eugene Elizalde.

The water source for the Monterrazas reservoir is still groundwater, but MCWD plans to shift to surface water in the future.

MCWD’s application for a 12-percent tariff rate increase with the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has not been approved yet.

As a result, it could not proceed in buying water from the Cebu Bulk Water Development which is set to supply million liters of water this year from a river in Cantumog, Carmen town in northern Cebu.

MCWD currently relies mainly on pumping groundwater from an already strained aquifer to address a daily demand of 370,000 cubic meters within its service area. It hopes to increase its service coverage to 66 percent in 2020.

Monterrazas has 300 households. Restaurants, commercial complex and three schools will rise within this upland community.

Dindo Antonio Perez of Genvi Development Corporation said they relied on the expertise of MCWD in handling the water supply system for Monterrazas because pumping water would cost too much.

“We don’t have the expertise to run a water system in Monterrazas so we asked MCWD to do it for us. This will not only help us with our water supply but also help improve the water system in Guadalupe,” Perez said.

Genvi addressed the problem of flooding in lowland communities when they set up 14 water detention ponds which could store 500 to 3,000 cubic meters each.
Water runoff stored here can be used for irrigation later.

“It captures rainwater and detains it for 24 hours before slowly releasing it. But eventually we will use the gray water for irrigation,” Perez told Cebu Daily News.

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