ILOILO – There is enough water in this province and Iloilo City, and Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) assures Ilonggos it has prepared for this dry season.
Three water suppliers of the water district are ensuring sufficient supply, according to Amarylis Josephine Castro, officer-in-charge of MIWD’s Office of the General Manager.
These suppliers are the Metro Iloilo Bulk Water Supply Corp., Flo Water Resources (Iloilo), Inc. and the Iloilo Prime Water Ventures Corp.
“So far normal pa ang aton water supply. Our production is between 76,000 to 80,000 cubic meters per day,” Castro told Panay News.
Metro Iloilo Bulk Water Supply Corp., which is in a joint venture with MIWD, has a plan of action for the summer season, she added.
This includes dredging activities at the Maasin Watershed (MIWD’s main water source) in Barangay Daja, Maasin, Iloilo; acquisition of a standby water pump in case the current pump conks out; and preparing the spare parts of generator sets.
Despite these preparations, Castro urged people to use and conserve water wisely.
As of February 2022, 45,567 households are connected with MIWD – 38,129 of these are in Iloilo City and the rest are in the towns of Maasin, Cabatuan, Santa Barbara, Pavia, San Miguel, Oton, and Leganes.
Among others, Castro suggested that households check their water pipes for possible leaks.
She also encouraged people to recycle used water – this may be used to water plants, for example.
“We encourage, too, rainwater harvesting. Sa mga buildings, gina-encourage magbutang gid sang drum so they can store water,” said Castro.
As for the water rates, Castro assured MIWD subscribers that these remain at their November 2018 approved rates – P200 for the first 10 cubic meters (or P20 per cubic meter) for residential consumers and P400 for the first 10 cubic meters for commercial consumers.
She also assured Ilonggos that the water district is addressing non-revenue water (losses) through another joint venture partner, the Metro Pacific Water Investments Corp. (MetroPac).
According to Castro, 50 to 51 percent of the daily water production becomes non-revenue water due mainly to water pipe leaks.
MetroPac is replacing defective lines but Castro made it clear this is not an easy process.
“We rehabilitate our lines (but) indi madali kay makutkot pa. It takes time. Malaba daan ang Iloilo City to Maasin,” she explained./PN
