Jaclupan producing less than half: Water lack at over 39,000 cubic meters

CEBU, Philippines — The water supply deficit of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) reached 39,403 cubic meters on April 4, following the drop in the production of most of its surface water sources.

The lack was mainly because the rivers where MCWD gets the supply from are almost dried up with the continuing drought brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.

Data from MCWD shows that instead of the normal 301,000 cubic meters per day, the utility company produced only 261,597 cubic meters per day or over 39,000 in deficit.

The Jaclupan facility, its major surface water source, is now only producing 14,000 cubic meters instead of its daily 30,000 cubic meters of water.

The Buhisan dam is now only giving out 3,400 cubic meters instead of its capacity of 6,000 cubic meters.

On the other hand, the Mactan Rock supply in Compostela has generated zero production.

MCWD's Lusaran facility is now only producing 15,000 cubic meters instead of 30,000 cubic meters.

The Carmen Bulk Water supply however, is still able to deliver its 30,000 cubic meters of water per day.

With the drop of surface water production, MCWD is now relying mainly on ground water sources or wells.

As a result, more households will not have water or will not have a 24-hour supply from the MCWD.

As a contingency, MCWD is getting ready to supply water to neighborhoods via water tankers, when needed.

The water district also deployed two water siphoning and filtration equipment in upland Bonbon and Cambinocot to help farmers and households in the mountain barangays.

These Japan-grant pieces of equipment will get raw water from the river and filter it to become potable.

A glimmer of hope is that the desalinization plant in Mambaling is expected to start supplying by next month. — /RHM (FREEMAN)