70 percent of water in Phl wasted

MANILA, Philippines - As the country observed World Water Day yesterday, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that 70 percent of the country’s available water of 160 billion cubic meters per year is wasted or lost.

Vicente Tuddao, executive director of the DENR’s River Basin Control Office (RBCO), said that water unused or lost refers to the non-revenue water of both Manila Water and Maynilad Water due to leaking pipes, as well as those that are not directly caught by irrigation areas.

“That is why there is a need to check irrigation canals and make sure water flows directly from sources to irrigation areas,” he said.

Tuddao pointed out that water from rivers and other bodies are not maximized because much of the country’s water sources are polluted.

Data from the RBCO showed that 140 billion cubic meters of water are sourced from ground and surface water such as lakes and springs, while 120 billion cubic meters are underground water.

Every Filipino has an allocation of 1,900 cubic meters of water, though this is not maximized because of factors such as water pollution and water wastage, the RCBO said.

“Water is a very important resource that we need to conserve and use wisely,” said Tuddao.

He warned that by year 2025, 1.8 billion people would be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions.

“The lack of water limits farmers’ ability to produce enough food to eat or earn a living. South Asia, East Asia and the Middle East, for example, are already close to their resource limits, and their population is still growing,” he said.

Biggest human water drop

Meanwhile, in line with the celebration of World Water Day, some 2,000 employees of government agencies and private water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. yesterday formed the biggest human water drop at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila as rain was pouring down.

Maynilad president and chief executive officer Victorico Vargas said they are contemplating on submitting yesterday’s feat to Guinness World Records.

“As of now, there is no record (for the biggest human water drop) so we should enter it to the Guinness,” said Vargas, referring to yesterday’s event that carried the theme “Water and Food Security.”

Maynilad Corporate Communications chief Cherubim Mojica said since there was no Guinness representative, they documented the event through pictures, videos and registration of the participants and other information that they would submit to Guinness.

Despite the fact that the participants got drenched in the afternoon rain, Vargas believes that their effort was well worth it since Maynilad’s advocacy to promote the importance of water would reach international level.

“We are 2,000 people and we formed ourselves into a drop of water to show how important water is,” Vargas said.

He said in the Philippines, there are about 16 million Filipinos who still have no access to potable water or would have to walk a great distance in order to have water.

Maynilad, which supplies 60 percent of the water supply in the greater Metro Manila area, has so far only provided water to 92 percent in their area (West Zone).

“We realize how important water is so we want to bring it up to the consciousness of the Filipinos and this is a small start,” he said.

“We are not only after the awareness…We would like to walk with them in terms of bringing water to their doorstep,” he said.

This is the second time that Maynilad partnered with the DENR in celebrating World Water Day.

Also yesterday, Maynilad was one of the signatories in a memorandum of agreement with government agencies concerned with water such as the DENR, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Manila Ocean Park.

In the memorandum, the participating agencies and Maynilad agreed to work toward the education of the public on the importance of water and for an exchange of their best practices in the water industry.

Vargas said, “For a country to be truly progressive, its citizens should have access to potable water. Maynilad is working hand in hand with the government and putting in the necessary investments so that efficient water and wastewater services can be made available to more Filipinos.” -With Evelyn Macairan