Oro faucets still dry

CAGAYAN DE ORO - It has been nearly two weeks since clean water stopped flowing out from the faucets of residents of the city’s western part but officials of both the Cagayan de Oro Water City District (COWD) and Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. (RVWCI) still cannot seem to solve the problem that has affected over 20,000 households here.

In a COWD advisory Saturdday, water supply is back to its usual volume or flow rate, at 1,700 cubic meter per hour but with water pressure of only 23 PSI, there is still no water coming out of the taps. The COWD explained that water pressure needs to be about 70 per square inch (PSI).

Engineer Joffrey Hapitan, RVWCI vice president for operations, said that on Friday evening, they attempted to deliver the desired 1,500 cubic meter per hour flow rate at 70 PSI, however, this resulted to another leak in the emergency water pipe they are using.

Hapitan said he has requested the COWD to lower the pressure specification to avoid the recurrence of the leak. COWD spokesperson Ladelle Sagrado said, water delivery will continue to be delivered by fire trucks in the affected areas. Sagrado also advised that although its water sources is safe, boiling of water for drinking is advised,"due to circumstances that may have happened during transport, handling and storage".

It was not however specified when the water supply gets back to its normal state.

Meanwhile, COWD's Facebook page is being trolled by angry residents. A Facebook user named Gigi urged the COWD to hasten the repair, pointing out that water scarcity is "no joke".

"Dawbi kay October 7 naman karon wala pa japon tubig? Gabayad mig tarong diri dapita! Palihog lang unta paspasa ninyo di ni joke jud! Mag post nasad dayon mo nga until next week pa walay agas pagsure!" she said.

A certain Mei meanwhile said they have been consuming mineral water since Thursday last week. She also urged the city government to take action on the problem.