Pigeon on electric wire causes one-hour brownout, water cut

A pigeon that got snagged and electrocuted in a powerline caused a one-hour power interruption in parts of Metro Cebu yesterday.

The accident also affected water supply as electric-run pumping stations of the Metro Cebu Water District in the Jaclupan river in Talisay city shut down.

“Our crew had to remove the bird in order for power to be restored,” said Theresa Gonzales-Sederiosa, spokesperson of the Visayan Electric Company.

The incident was reported to Veco at 9:23 a.m. A crew energized the lines by 10:14 a.m.

The incident highlighted MCWD’s reliance on electric power for its pumping stations and an ongoing dry spell that has affected water supply to wide parts of Metro Cebu.

There’s no El Niño weather phenomenon, but the water table in the Jaclupan valley in Talisay is unusually low, said MCWD officials.

Consumers were advised to store water. The dvisory was given in March for low pressure to no water “until further notice” in parts of Talisay, Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu cities and Consolacion and Liloan townn.

As of 7 p.m last night, water supply in most areas in Cebu returned to normal with the resumption of electric power. Among those affected were barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City and some elevated areas in Talisay City as well as Consolacion and Lilo-an towns.

MCWD said an eight-hour water interruption will start at 9 a.m. today until 5 p.m. for scheduled repair of Abejo mainline pipes in Consolacion town.

MCWD public affairs manager Charmaine Rodriguez said the low water table was “unusual.” “We expect a drop if there’s an El Niño but there was none so far this year,” she said.

Wellfields in Jaclupan are a major water source for Cebu. The drop in the water pumping level there was noticed at the end of March.

Water production went down from 30,000 cubic meters to 20,000 cubic meters a day.

A generation set provides only 60 percent power for the wellfields which results in interrupted water supply during a brownout. MCWD has an average daily production of 180,000 cubic meters to serve its over 146,000 service connections. Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao