Go ahead, store water, but . . .

Worried by the impending water service interruption?

Go ahead and store water but make sure they will not become breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

The Department of Health (DOH) issued on Friday this reminder to all households that will be experiencing water service interruption in the coming days.

At a press briefing, DOH spokesperson Lyndon Lee Suy expressed the health agency’s concern that the water supply disruptions might cause dengue cases to spike if affected households will not collect water properly for their daily use.

“We don’t want to be insensitive by preventing them to store water. But we remind them that when storing water, cover them properly to keep away dengue-carrying mosquitoes,” Lee Suy told reporters.

As of Aug. 8, the number of dengue cases in the country has reached 55,079 since January this year. This is 9.15 percent higher compared to the cases monitored during the same period last year, he said.

More than 300,000 consumers of Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services will be affected by low water pressure or shortened water service hours as the water level in Angat Dam continued to fall due to the prevailing El Niño weather.

The National Water Resources Board said it has lowered the water allocation in the capital from 41 cubic meters per second to 38 cubic meters per second.

Based on estimates by Maynilad, at least 125,000 households in Quezon City and Parañaque, Caloocan, Valenzuela cities and Cavite province will be affected by “low water pressure” and probably by water interruption due to the decreased water supply in the capital.

Manila Water earlier disclosed that 230,000 households in its service area were experiencing a low water supply and may be affected by water disruption.