Aboitiz says water unit eyes expansion of bulk water supply project
ABOITIZ InfraCapital, Inc., through its unit Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc., is planning to expand the capacity of its P12-billion bulk water project to serve the growing demand in Davao City, the company’s president said.
“We are looking at an expansion of this to other areas of DCWD (Davao City Water District). As the DCWD expands, we will expand with them and other areas of Davao,” Sabin M. Aboitiz, president and chief executive officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV), told reporters on the sidelines of the project’s inauguration on Wednesday.
AEV is the listed holding company of the Aboitiz group.
The DCWD is the water utility and major piped water service provider of Davao City. It sources its supply from underground and surface water, serving around 240,000 customers in 116 barangays within its concession area.
The project which started operating in December of last year, is a public-private partnership between the Apo Agua and DCWD.
The Davao City bulk water supply project has a capacity of 300 million liters per day. Its water treatment facility is powered by a two-megawatt run-of-river hydroelectric power plant, utilizing a waterenergy nexus concept.
The project taps supply from the Tamugan River, and the raw water passes through the run-of-river hydroelectric power plant which in turn generates energy.
The generated power will be used by the treatment facility to produce treated water.
Jovana Cresta Duhaylungsod, spokesperson of DCWD, said that with the operations of the bulk water project, DCWD hopes to reduce its activated deep wells.
“Right now, with the bulk water supply, we will rest the production of some wells. We will only use them for contingency if there’s a temporary shutdown of bulk water,” Ms. Duhaylungsod said, adding that 70% of DCWD’s supply will be coming from the Apo Agua bulk water.
With the operations of the project, Ms. Duhaylungsod said DCWD expects water shortage within its service area to be lessened. —