BAGUIO CITY – The management of the Baguio Water District (BWD) awarded to a Manila-based company a 25-year bulk water project to supply the district with a maximum of 5,000 cubic meters of potable water per day which will be part of the necessary innovations to improve its capacity to provide the growing water requirements of the increasing population.
Engr. Salvador M. Royeca, BWD general manager, revealed that by 2019, the winning bulk water supplier, Badioan Springs Inc., will be providing the initial agreement of 2,000 cubic meters of potable water per day and will staggerdly increase to 5,000 cubic meters per day which will be the limit of the agreement.
“The company was able to comply with the stringent guidelines for the bulk water supply, particularly the existence of its water source outside the existing water sources of the water district, water rights over their sources of water and the delivery of potable water supply for distribution by the district,” Royeca stressed.
The BWD official said that the winning bulk water supplier offered to supply the district with the agreed volume of water at P35 per cubic meter which is much lower compared to the offer of other bulk water suppliers who presented their proposals to the district for evaluation and assessment on which offer would be the most advantageous to the district and the consumers of the district’s franchise area.
Further, Royeca claimed another bulk water proposal from another Manila-based company is undergoing evaluation and assessment by the management but he refused to divulge the details of the proposal until such time that it will be finalized.
According to him, the water source of the winning bulk water supplier is from the springs of Badioan, Poblacion, tuba, Benguet aside from the Badioan river wherein it was able to acquire the required water rights to serve as their major sources of potable water that they will supply the district.
He stated the quality of water to be supplied by Badioan Springs passed the necessary standards of the Philippine National Standards on Drinking Water (PNSDW), thus, it was awarded the bulk water supplier project for the 25-year period.
BWD embarked on a long-term bulk water supply project to entice interested water companies to supply the district with a maximum of 50,000 cubic meters per day of potable water which should be sourced out from water sources outside the city to ensure that the district will be able to provide the rapidly increasing water requirements of the growing population.
Under the district’s bulk water project, suppliers must source their water supply outside the city and that the agreed volume of water must be delivered to the district pursuant to the standards of potable water under the PNSDW.
Royeca said the water district is still looking for other interested bulk water suppliers which will be able to qualify to supply some of the potable water requirements of the city through the prescribed rules and regulations to help address the increasing water needs of the people, especially during the peak tourism months in the city.
By HENT