Water supply in ‘good condition’ amid dry spell – MPIW

ILOILO City – The water supply in this city and other areas under the service area of Metro Pacific Iloilo Water remains in “good condition” amid the dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon.

Marie Joy Josue, corporate affairs and communications head of the MPIW, told Panay News the source level is 94 meters above sea level.

“That’s still normal. The bulk water supply remains at 73 million liters per day (MLD),” said Josue.

T h i s , d e s p i t e s o m e “fluctuation” that occurred over the weekend due to maintenance cleaning of bulk water, she stressed.

Although the water supply in the metropolis is still in normal condition, the water distribution firm urged its consumers to still conserve water.

The two bulk water companies, which provide water supply to MPIW, source their water from the Tigum River in Maasin town.

The city’s sole water distributor also reported an increased water availability from 40 percent to 63 percent since it entered into a joint venture agreement with Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) in 2019.

The water distributor firm also increased system efficiency and reliability by reducing water losses from 59 percent to 43 percent.

To maintain sufficient water supply within its service areas, the water distributor urged its consumers to always check and fix leaks in faucets, toilets and pipes.

The households are also encouraged to shorten shower time to reduce water usage. The consumers may also collect rainwater using rain barrels for watering plants or cleaning and washing cars.

Likewise, the MPIW has also come up with an action plan in a bid to achieve its goal of delivering reliable, high– quality drinking water to its consumers.

These include pipe expansion in the districts of City Proper, La Paz, Molo, Arevalo, and Mandurriao and in the Jalaur Transmission Line Project.

The water distribution firm is also undertaking the replacement of old pipes and the implementation of Sahara Mobile Technology, a modern technology for detecting and repairing leaked pipes.

“With the looming El Nino, we conducted water service interruption to give way for leak repair,” the MPIW said in its report to the Iloilo City Council recently.

The water distributor firm said it is racing against time to rehabilitate the pipe as it poses an imminent danger to property, increasing water loss of about 6 cubic meters daily and potential water quality problems.

It opted for innovative trenchless technologies to identify and repair problematic locations to safely manage the water pipe called Tyfo Fibrwrap Pipe (TRP) Rehabilitation.

It uses an engineered approach that utilizes advanced technology for rehabilitating pipelines to cost- effectively craft a repair program./