WATER SHORTAGE. A household experiencing water shortage avails of supply distributed by PrimeWater and its joint venture partner Bacolod City Water District last week. In his letter to Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez dated March 7, 2024, PrimeWater president Roberto Fabrique Jr. said they have devised a plan to augment water supply that will allow them to deliver at least an additional seven million liters of water per day to residents of Bacolod. (Photo from Baciwa-PrimeWater Bacolod City's Facebook page)
BACOLOD CITY – PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. (PrimeWater), this city’s private water distributor, has assured Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez of additional water volume in the coming months amid the water shortage experienced in several residential areas made worse by the prolonged dry weather.
PrimeWater president Roberto Fabrique Jr. gave the assurance in a letter dated March 7 addressed to Benitez and released by the city government on Wednesday.
“We have devised a plan to augment water supply that will allow PrimeWater to deliver (an) additional seven million liters of water per day (MLD) to a maximum volume of 17 MLD to the residents of Bacolod City,” he said.
Fabrique said the plan entails the utilization of additional water sources to supplement the firm’s existing infrastructure alongside extensive repairs and improvements to reduce water loss.
PrimeWater will undertake within the next five months the optimization of 12 identified deep wells that can “produce more or less seven MLD of water volume”, he said.
Fabrique cited a water source interconnection and pipelaying project to divert water supply of two MLD from its Forbes Hill pumping station to different areas of the city, including Barangay Bata as well as Eroreco Subdivision and other parts of Barangay Mandalagan.
The plans include the activation of Highland Hills Subdivision water source, once turned over to PrimeWater, to produce water volume of up to one MLD, and massive leak repairs or non-revenue water reduction for additional two MLD of recovered water.
Fabrique said they are also looking at five MLD production from Bocal-Bocal Spring, subject to availability of connection pipes and agreement between PrimeWater and the water source owner/operator.
Last weekend, PrimeWater, together with its joint venture partner Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa), said in a statement that it has acquired a water truck for deployment as a contingency plan to mitigate the impact of the El Niño on the current water supply.
The water truck, which can store up to three cubic meters of water, is being used to deliver water during service disruptions across multiple barangays, it added.
Benitez earlier said there is “as much as 15 percent” reduction in the level of the city's water sources, based on the report of Baciwa-PrimeWater.
In response, the mayor formed a coordinating action team mainly to expedite the implementation of vital infrastructure to improve water supply for Bacolodnons.
“The city government is taking steps to address the shortage in water supply,” he added. (PNA)
