RAINWATER. The Department of Science and Technology urges big water consumers to put up rainwater harvesting facilities as the country faces drier condition due to the El Niño phenomenon. The facility can collect rainwater which will be eventually recycled for better use. (PNA file photo)
BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) urged government offices and commercial buildings to put up water harvesting facilities to allow them to recycle and even process potable water.
Dr. Nancy Bantog, regional director of the DOST-CAR, made the call during the opening of the Disaster Risk Resiliency Month observance on Monday here, as the country expects a drier condition due to the El Niño phenomenon.
“We encourage institutions to have their facilities. Government buildings and even privately owned buildings should be encouraged to harvest rain for better utilization," Bantog said.
In an earlier event, Environment Management Bureau (EMB)-CAR regional director Jean Borromeo called on private companies like malls to follow the example of SM-Baguio mall that installed a water filtration system after constructing a rainwater harvesting facility to be recovered and reused.
Borromeo said “Baguio City records a very high rainfall, the highest in the country but there is water shortage and rationing for domestic use. If only we make good use of the rain, we might even have surplus water,” she said.
SM Prime Holdings said that its water filtration system could recover at least 175 cubic meters of water per day for the use in the mall’s premises.
The city government, meanwhile, has reiterated its call for the public to save on water as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that while El Niño is currently weak, it shows signs of strengthening in the coming months.
“We should all be practicing water conservation and water recycling in our households not only when there is water shortage,” the city government’s press release said Monday.
With water rationing being experienced year-round, the city government is crafting an El Nino master plan as a mitigation measure against the projected water shortage problem. (PNA)
