Davao City has 'substantial surplus' of water
Source: MindaNews
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 April) -- The Davao City Water District (DCWD) assured that there is "substantial surplus" in the water supply to meet the daily requirement of its consumers amid the rising heat index due to the El Niño phenomenon, an executive said.
JC Duhaylungsod, spokesperson for DCWD, said during AFP-PNP Press Conference on Wednesday that the local water utility is ready to enforce the "conjunctive use" of its surface water and ground water sources should there be a significant reduction in the volume of supply that the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP) of Apo Agua Infrastructura can deliver to this city.
"Suffice to say we are ready for the effect of El Niño," she said.
Duhaylungsod said that the bulk water supply project can provide around 300,000 cubic meters daily while the DCWD can draw around 340,000 cubic meters daily from ground water sources, which is more than enough to cover the city's water requirement averaging between 300,000 to 400,000 cubic meters.
The project taps Panigan-Tamugan River for the city's additional source of potable water.
She said most of the current supply of the city is drawn from the bulk water project.
"We are very fortunate that we have abundant supply of both ground and surface water. This is the most ideal system in place because we have redundancies that we can use," she said.
Duhaylungsod said the DCWD expects increased consumption per household as the heat index rises.
She said peak demand is usually from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"We have not yet reached the point where we can see the reduction in volume, meaning Apo Agua can still deliver the volume that we require from them," she said.
In an interview during inauguration of the water supply project last February 7, Duhaylungsod said around 70% of the city's demand is being supplied by DCBWSP while the remaining 30% from ground water sources.
The commencement of the DCBWSP's operations benefits the DCWD's Calinan, Tugbok, Riverside, Dumoy, Cabantian, and Panacan water supply systems.
She said utilizing the surface water will allow the 74 production wells to replenish supply.
"Based on our study conducted years ago, the water that we enjoy today from ground water sources is the replenishment from 5 to 30 years ago," Duhaylungsod said.
She added that the future generations are assured of enough ground water supply since the city's requirement is mostly drawn from surface water. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)