MCWD tests water in schools before classes start

A Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) Quality Laboratory scientist tests a sample of water at the Banilad Elementary School in Cebu City. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Personnel of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) are conducting free water testing to various elementary schools in Cebu City in preparation for the start of classes on June 3.

According to Charmaine Kara, MCWD spokesperson, the free water testing is conducted to ensure that school children will be able to “enjoy” potable water when classes start.

“We choose the schools with the highest populations. We are doing this to ensure that the water is potable from the tap because the tap water will be used by the children when they brush their teeth or wash their water containers,” said Kara.

The MCWD laboratory scientists were at the Barangay Banilad Elementary School to kick-start the activity on Wednesday afternoon, May 29.

The results are expected to be out within three to five working days and areas with infected water will be treated immediately.

She said that this had been an annual program of MCWD, their contribution to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Brigada Eskwela, which would call on the community to help prepare the schools for the pupils and students.

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The MCWD will not only check for the potability of the water in the schools but will also check on the pipelines for any leaks to be repaired immediately.

For schools with privately owned wells, the MCWD will also get water sample for free water testing.

As for schools with two water supplies, MCWD and a private well, the MCWD discourages mixing the water from the different sources so it would be easier to trace the source in case of contamination.

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Kara also said that MCWD would deliver water for the schools with the supplies greatly affected by the dry spell and would continue to do so until it would normalize.

Since the El Niño, the water supply for mosts schools had only been at ground floor level, and MCWD said the school would have to obtain a cistern and a pump to bring the water up to other levels.

The MCWD will also begin taking samples from Talamban National High School, Talamban Elementary School, Barrio Luz National High School, Lahug Elementary School, and Tejero Elementary School.

Other public schools will also be looked into for quality control including the Cebu Central School, Labangon Elementary School, and Tisa II Elementary School.

With this activity, the MCWD hopes that water will now be safer to use for the pupils and students in Cebu City./dbs