Clean water for Albay, but poor griping

17 January 2008
By Ephraim Aguilar
Legazpi City

A MULTIMILLION-PESO FACIlity to deliver clean water from a river to more than 17,000 households in Legazpi City may be a superb idea, but not so for the poor who cannot afford to pay for it.

Philippine Hydro (Phil-Hydro) Inc., which will undertake the P300-million bulk water project for the government-owned Legazpi City Water District (LCWD), will charge consumers P13.50 per cubic meter, or an increase of almost half of the present rate.

This would mean a jump of P198 this year up to 2009 in the existing monthly minimum rate of P135 for a consumption of not more than 10 cubic meters. More increases are scheduled until 2015, when the rate will be pegged at P238.

According to LCWD officials, the rate increases are necessary if the consumers want a quality and stable supply of water.

Water from river

Under the new system called “High-rate Permanent Media Filtration Technology,” water will be tapped from the Yawa River, an 11-kilometer channel where volcanic gullies converge and extend up to the Albay Gulf, instead of from springs around Mayon Volcano.

“Water coming from the Yawa River will pass through embedded perforated pipes that shall serve as a natural filtration system. The new system operates modern equipment that will ensure the required water quality is met before distribution to the public,” says Desiree Michelle Barcelon, LCWD public relations assistant.

She says the spring water is now discolored because of its high iron content. She cited studies conducted by the LCWD and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

It is reddish and smells like fish—characteristics of water from artesian wells that is not potable—says chemical engineer Junel Borbo, a professor at the Bicol University College of Engineering. At higher levels of contamination, it looks a little slimy, he adds.

Barcelon also cites another study showing a periodic scarcity of water due to climatic and topographical changes commonly affecting springs. For example, the erstwhile popular hot springs in Tiwi town in Albay, home to the Chevron geothermal plant, have already dried up, leading to the closure of many resorts.

Biggest in the country

The new clean water technology is the biggest of its kind in the country and the first to be run by Phil-Hydro, says its chief operating officer, Rolando Mangulabnan. It converts surface water, such as that from rivers, into water of “bottled quality,” he says.

PhilHydro is committed to supply at least 20,000 cubic meters of water per day.

“It will be environment-friendly if we stop drilling holes. Surface water, unlike groundwater, is free from salt intrusion. Nowhere in Metro Manila is this US technology used,” he says.

Water from the rivers can be put to good use before it is flushed out to the sea to mix with salt water, says Mangulabnan, who is an environmental engineer and a former agrarian reform undersecretary.

In opposing the project, the Legazpi City Slumdwellers Federation Inc. (LCSFI) claims that no proper public consultation was held regarding the changes in water supply system and rates. The group has 3,000 members, according to the Community Organization of the Philippines Enterprise (COPE) Foundation.

Together with COPE, the LCSFI plans to file a petition to the city council asking for a comprehensive investigation of the project.

“The rate increase is unjustifiable since many of the people here are in the brink of poverty, especially after the series of calamities that hit the province,” says Numeriano de la Torre, COPE’s assistant regional coordinator. He adds that a rate increase is not a solution for an efficient water service.

But Barcelon says a careful study on the city’s water supply situation was made before the LWUA recommended a “justified” increase. Nine of the city’s 33 villages have less or no supply of water during peak hours, while five still do not have distribution lines, she says.

A public hearing was held on Dec. 21 last year to discuss the increase, but only 128 consumers came, she adds.

It was not a public consultation at all, De la Torre says, and the place was not accessible to many people.

According to Barcelon, LWUA representatives were there to listen to the sentiments of the public. “It is only after the public hearing that the LWUA can confirm the increase for implementation. Until now, we are still waiting for the confirmation,” she says.

Gonzalo Gomez, 53, one of the water district subscribers from Barangay Baybay, does not favor the increase. “Due to poverty, no one will be in favor of any increase. Money is hard to earn these days,” he says in the vernacular.

“I will just reinstall our old water pump, if we could no longer pay our water bill.”