Pump delivers water to remote areas

THE AGOS Ram Pump, now up and running at Barangay Pandanon, Don Salvador Benedicto town in Negros Occidental, is the 13th facility turned over by the Coca-Cola Foundation. This pump will provide clean, potable water to 291 households. Contributed photo

For years, residents and even schoolchildren had to walk 500 meters through rough and very steep terrain just to fetch water from a river in Don Salvador Benedicto town, Negros Occidental.

But such long and back-breaking walks were over.

A hydraulic ram pump has been installed at Pandanon River that pumps water 165 meters up directly to the people in Barangay Pandanon, a mountain village about 5 kilometers from the town proper.

The project, which was inaugurated on October 15, was jointly implemented by Coca-Cola, the Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (AIDFI) and the Earth Day Network.

Che Idzenga, AIDFI regional project manager for the Visayas, said the ram pump supplies 27,032 liters or 135 drums of water per day to 291 households and to about 500 pupils of Pandanon Elementary School.

Using the power of the river flow, the ram pump literally pushes water uphill without any source of power, Idzenga said.

THE WATER source of the 13th Agos Ram Pump is located at the bottom of a mountain beside Barangay Pandanon, Don Salvador Benedicto town in Negros Occidental. Contributed photo

The project included the installation of 11 communal faucets in several areas of the barangay where households are clustered. Clustering is necessary so that they would be able to manage the flow and amount of water, Idzenga said.

Judith Gregorio, 44, mother of eight children, said that for 20 years, she had to walk from her house to the river to fetch water.

It was very tiring and time consuming but she had to do it herself because her husband had to work and her children were in school, Gregorio said.

With the ram pump, the water supply is right in front of her house, she said. Now, she can use her time for taking care of her grandchildren.

Rogelio Turabelia, 33, said that since he was 6 years old, he had been fetching water from the river for his mother at least thrice a day. Now, he added, he does not have to do that anymore.

He and Gregorio said they were very thankful for the ram pump because now they enjoy fresh and clean water right at their backyards.

Victor Manlapaz, project officer of Coca-Cola Foundation-Philippines, said the Agos Ram Pump Project was designed to provide water systems in remote areas in the country where other forms of water systems were not possible.

Manlapaz said they have installed two ram pumps in Moises Padilla town and Silay City in Negros Occidental and another in San Jose town, Negros Oriental.

A total of 13 ram pumps have been installed in the country.

Aside from Moises Padilla, Silay and San Jose, two fully operational ram pumps were also installed in Sagada, Mountain Province, and one each in Valencia and Inabanga towns in Bohol; Naval town in Biliran; Alamada town in North Cotabato; General Santos City; Kalamansig town in Sultan Kudarat; Dasol town in Pangasinan, and Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental.

These ram pumps have a total yield of 60,610,805 liters of water annually and have benefited over 2,000 households and over 10,000 direct beneficiaries.

The Agos project, which is targeting the installation of 40 ram pumps this year, is part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola next year. The company hopes to install 100 ram pumps all over the country, Manlapaz said.

Six more ram pumps will be installed on Negros Island. These are in the cities of La Carlota, Kabankalan, Silay and Sagay in Negros Occidental as well as in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental.

Aside from installing ram pumps in the Philippines, AIDFI has completed its ram pump technology transfer to Afghanistan, Colombia and Nepal. It had won the BBC World Challenge 2010 award and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for its green technology that brings water to remote villages.