Water supply in Cebu reduced

CEBU CITY—The lone water supplier of this and Talisay City had reduced the volume of water it pumps to hundreds of thousands of households to conserve supply until it starts to rain in May, the earliest that weather experts predicted rains would come.

Until then, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) urged residents of the cities of Cebu and Talisay to reduce water consumption and brace for water service interruptions.

Charmaine Kara, MCWD spokesperson, said the main reason for the cut in water production was the decline in water levels in MCWD’s two water sources—Jaclupan Watershed and Buhisan Dam.

Kara, in a phone interview, said reducing water production now would ensure enough supply for residents of the two cities.

Supply cut

Water production from Jaclupan Watershed in Talisay City was cut from 33,000 to 30,000 cubic meters per day, Kara said.

Supply from Buhisan Dam in Cebu City was cut from 6,000 to 4,000 cu m per day, she said.

Parts of Cebu City and the entire Talisay City would suffer water service interruptions as a result, Kara added.

“This means that we will limit our service hours,” she said.

“Normally, we have water for 24 hours but now we will stop water production at, let’s say at dawn, when demand is relatively low,” she added.

The measures were to allow MCWD to “store water to last until the rainy season starts,” Kara said.

Talisay City, with a population of 227,000, gets all its water from Jaclupan Watershed. The same source supplies water to two Cebu City villages—Bulacao and Pardo.

10 gallons per day

Buhisan Dam is the source of water for households and businesses in downtown and uptown Cebu City, including the village of Mabolo.

Kara said MCWD was asking people to save water by using recycled water on plants or to flush toilets or in cleaning garages. This, she said, could save up to 10 gallons of water per day per household.

The decline in water levels in Jaclupan Watershed and Buhisan Dam had been attributed to lack of rain during the summer season.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said it didn’t see any rain coming this month.

Rains were not expected until May at the earliest, said engineer Al Quiblat, head of Pagasa-Mactan Bureau.

Pagasa data showed that April was the driest month with virtually no chance of rain.

Pagasa-Mactan recorded just 41.3 millimeters of rainfall in April, or below the expected average of 50 mm.

Scorching heat

The hottest days so far in Cebu were on April 14 and 16 when weather experts recorded a heat index of 41 degrees Celsius. On April 17, the heat index, or the temperature felt by the human body, was 40 degrees Celsius.

The heat was driving up demand for water.

Kara, however, said MCWD had other sources—groundwater wells and bulk water.

The heat is drying up surface water source, but the bigger source of MCWD was still groundwater, she said.

She said supply from Jaclupan Watershed and Buhisan Dam was only 15 percent of total water supply in Metro Cebu.

It was impossible for MCWD’s surface water source “to be completely dried up,” Kara said.

“The good thing this year is that there’s no El Niño phenomenon,” she said.

Breaching 40 degrees Celsius

MCWD produces 230,000 cu m per day and 53 percent of that comes from groundwater wells and 32 percent from bulk water suppliers, Kara said.

MCWD had deployed water tanks to communities that are reeling from the effects of the reduced production of water.

In a report on Inquirer.net, Pagasa said heat index breached 44 degrees Celsius in some provinces. —MOREXETTE MARIE B. ERRAM