PARANAQUE City Mayor Florencio M. Bernabe Jr. assured the residents that the city's water problems will be over soon and that they need not worry about reports attributed to Vice Mayor Anjo Yllana that the city's ground structure is unstable.
Last May 14, the mayor has formed a water crisis committee to come up with immediate and long-term solutions to the city's water situation and has designated City Administrator Noli R. Aldip as its chairman.
In an inter-agency meeting with the National Water Regulatory Board (NWRB), Manila Water Services System (MWSS) and Maynilad last May 26, short term and long term solutions were tackled to address the water issue.
For short term solutions, Maynilad will increase the pressure of their pipelines in Lopez Village and work on the lines in the clusters in the area. To accomplish this, Maynilad needs to find a right of way to connect to the clusters.
For long term solutions where ground water extracted from shallow and deep wells is no longer a feasible option, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo advised the city government to get its water supply from surface water at a higher volume and this led to the MWSS-treated bulk water supply - a 300 MLD (
million liters per day) project for southern Metro Manila as the answer to our water problem which could be accomplished by 2015.
"The city government is currently discussing with MWSS and Maynilad for a 50 MLD treated bulk water supply for BF Homes and majority of the subdivisions along Sucat and its interior," Mayor Bernabe said.
City hall is also negotiating with the two agencies and bulk water proponents to waive some government requirements due to the urgency of the situation. If this can be accomplished, water will flow 24 hours a day by 2008 or by 2009 at the latest.
On the situation regarding the city's ground water, Aldip said residents could no longer get water from their wells because they are drying up due to receding static water level.
"However, it should not be cause for alarm because it is technically impossible to sink (since) our aquifiers can still support the geological structure of the city," Aldip said.
Resources courtesy of the Paranaque Information Office
