CEBU CITY, Philippines—Water supply has been restored in 79 barangays within the franchise area of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).
In a statement, MCWD said supply of water has been restored in 79 out of the 168 barangays, or at least 47 percent, it is serving.
There are 24 barangays with partially restored supply in Cebu City; 12 in Mandaue City; nine in Lapu-Lapu City; eight each in Compostela, Liloan, and Taliday City; six in Consolacion, and four in Cordova.
As of December 27, 2021, MCWD is producing 133,300 cubic meters of water per day or 55.6 percent of its total normal production of 240,000 cubic meters a day.
This means at least 120,000 of the 200,000 total service connections now have running water.
MCWD sources its supply from 62 wells that are now up and running, 36 of which are powered by generator sets and 26 are Visayan Electric-energized.
In total, the utility has 138 production wells in different locations within its service area within Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Talisay City, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, and Cordova.
Immediately after the typhoon, the Production and Distribution Department (PDD) deployed generator sets to start the restoration efforts of the water district.
PDD Acting Manager Tommy Gonzales explained that one of the factors they consider in deploying the generator sets is the accessibility of the pumps, including the location, if it is not obstructed with fallen trees and other debris, as well as its compatibility with the well’s electrical rating.
Pumps that produce water that is directly fed to the consumers are also prioritized.
Now that VECO has energized 26 of MCWD’s wells, the generator sets are transferred to other wells that do not have power yet and located in areas that could not be reached by the supply from VECO-powered wells.
Some of MCWD’s well fields like those in Lagtang, Casili and Jaclupan have ‘in-place’ generator sets and one generator set can energize a cluster of wells.
These generator sets utilize the power line of VECO in order to supply power to more than one well. If the VECO line connected to the generator set is toppled by a typhoon, the wells could not be powered immediately and will have to wait for VECO to repair the line.
/bmjo
READ MORE:
Parts of Cebu City, Mandaue City now have water supply
10 public schools in Cebu City will be able to provide potable water soon