BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio Water District (BWD) disclosed three multinational companies have signified their intention to initially undertake the feasibility study for the long overdue bulk water supply project for the city in order to permanently solve the water shortage concerns of the city, especially during the summer months, and ensure the daily supply of water for the growing population.
Engr. Salvador Royeca, BWD general manager, identified the companies who are currently undertaking separate studies for the city’s bulk water supply project as the Maynilad Water, Manila Water Company and Prime Water, all with convincing track records in the supply and distribution of potable water in Metro Manila and its environs.
“We have been receiving unsolicited offers for our bulk water supply project but we have yet to evaluate and assess the proposals considering that one of them requested for additional time to conduct their own assessment and validation of their findings,” Royeca stressed.
Earlier, BWD tried to venture on the bulk water supply project as the lasting solution to the projected water shortage in the city sometime in 1997 but the same failed because of the excessive cost per cubic meter of potable water supply from outside the city.
Further, BWD tried the same option with the Benguet Corporation (BC) to source out potable and treated water from its former mine site but issues on the supply of contaminated water among others derailed the implementation of the noble project.
According to Royeca, the feasibility of the project boils down to the cheapest price per cubic meter of water to be supplied to the BWD by the supplier and that the same will be sourced from outside the city.
The concept of the bulk water project is to guarantee the availability of some 50,000 cubic meters of potable water daily from outside sources that will be tapped by the winning supplier of the bulk water project and that its price must be fixed in order to be affordable to consumers who will then enjoy a round-the-clock supply of potable water for their various use.
Royeca cited the results of the feasibility studies of the three companies will still be subjected to validation and assessment by the water district’s technical people to ascertain whether not the same would be feasible and affordable to the consumers.
The BWD official cited the bulk water supply project has been identified as a long-term solution to the water shortage problem of the city but solutions to the problem will not be confined to the project since there are available short-term undertakings that could be initially implemented such as the putting up of additional deep wells and the rehabilitation of its old rain catchment basin.
He revealed BWD is able to produce a daily supply of 42,500 up to 77,000 cubic meters of potable water supply with its existing deep wells and catchment basin but there is still a need for the district to venture on other available options that will significantly increase its water production so that it will be able to achieve its target of sustaining the daily supply of potable water to its rapidly increasing consumers in the different barangays of the city.
