THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) conducted water sampling at the Cebu City Central School, the second of 11 schools it is visiting to help ensure their water supply is safe for the schoolchildren.
MCWD community relations manager Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara said they are also encouraging students and school officials to do their part in conserving water as they wait for Cebu’s water supply to normalize after a prolonged dry spell.
“A lot of children drink water from anywhere. Our water is potable, but we need to ensure that it is still clean especially we just had our summer vacation. The kids can save as well,” Kara said.
After the testing, Kara said the MCWD could recommend to schools to either change their faucets or water lines or clean the inside of their tanks as well as boil the water before drinking.
Cebu City Central School principal Lyra Illaga said last year’s water sampling tests showed negative presence of E. coli bacteria. “We hope the results are still the same,” she said.
Kara also said they will know by next week if Metro Cebu’s water supply will normalize after days of heavy rains.
Kara said they need at least three weeks of continuous rain before the water level of their surface water sources returns to normal based on last year’s analysis.
“We still need to wait for the rains to pour directly in their surface water sources,” Kara said.
She said heavy rains helped increase the water level of Jaclupan Dam in Talisay City.
The Jaclupan facility usually produces 33,000 cubic meters of water a day.
But their production dropped to 6,000 cubic meters at the height of the dry spell last March and April.
The recent downpours raised the water level to 17,000 cubic meters, which is half of its usual production.
Kara said the water supply in Cebu City’s Buhisan Dam is still in its critical level.
And with the school opening, Kara said they are calling on households, school officials and school children to conserve and store water.
The average household of five consumes eight cubic meters of water daily, she said.
“They need to store water during the off peak hours, which is from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. if your home is part of the critical areas,” she said./UP Cebu Intern Maurice Jitty M. Villaester