DUMAGUETE CITY – Metro Dumaguete Water, a Joint Venture company between the Dumaguete City Water District and the Metro Pacific Water, has launched its map digitalization and water flow simulation projects.
MDW COO David Berba said introducing the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Hydraulic Modeling to the operations of Metro Dumaguete Water will modernize the work process and ensure a more efficient and effective approach in implementing the company’s water pressure improvement programs.
The GIS is an industry-known software used by water utility operators to capture data and create a geodatabase of the water distribution network. Through this software, MDW is able to create a digital map of all pumping stations and its underground pipelines, further allowing comprehensive analysis of water flow and pressure management.
Berba added that the introduction of the digital map starting June will serve as the reference study especially for future water infrastructure projects. This will provide a better picture of the system and support MDW’s plans and strategies through hydraulic simulation.
MDW reports that with the current configuration of the network, there is an imbalance of water distributed across households. Some areas appreciate strong water pressure up to 20 PSI (reaching three stories high) while other areas experience less than 10 PSI, and some at just 3 PSI.
“With the hydraulic simulation, we will soon be able to distribute water more evenly and effectively to areas with low pressure and low water availability, especially as we welcome an increase in supply with our additional two new ground wells this year,” said Berba.
Berba said the GIS and Hydraulic Modeling projects are also the key ingredients essential to reducing water losses, as both are needed to establish what’s called the District Metering Areas (DMA). A DMA would allow company engineers to have a closer look at the water lost in the system through the formation of micro-clusters.
MDW recently announced scheduled water interruptions to its customers in the month of May to install efficiency equipment in selected pumping stations. Berba says this is part of the pump upgrading program, replacing old monitoring tools with industry standard equipment which would ensure data accuracy in their readings.
