MCWD: Metro Cebu water production down

The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) is concerned over the drying up of Jaclupan River which is a major source Metro Cebu’s water supply.

To cope with this water supply decrease, the MCWD is advising consumers to conserve water and store water during night time as water pressure may decrease during peak hours.

The water supply situation may not  ease soon as the weather bureau has predicted below normal rainfall in the month of May.

According to Astrophel Logarta, MCWD Production and Distribution manager, the water pumping level of the Jaclupan facility in Talisay City started to drop at the end of March.Logarta said the water production of MCWD’s Jaclupan well fields dropped from 30,000 cubic meters to 20,000 cubic meters a day because the Jaclupan River dried up.

Although the Jaclupan facility  is a major water source for southern Metro Cebu, its effect may be felt throughout MCWD’s service area as their pipelines are interconnected, said Charmaine Rodriguez, MCWD public affairs manager.

The extremely high temperatures and the absence of rain the past few weeks have decreased the water production of Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), affecting the supply in Metro Cebu.The 10,000 cubic meters drop in their daily production could affect water supply in Talisay, Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities and the municipalities of Consolacion and Liloan.

Rodriguez said that the drying up of the Jaclupan River is very unusual as this usually happens only during El Niño droughts, which is not occuring this year.

The water district has an average daily production of 180,000 cubic meters to serve its over 146,000 service connections. /BenCyrus G. Ellorin