Metro Dumaguete Water, a Joint Venture company between the Dumaguete City Water District and the Metro Pacific Water, is adding two new deep wells to partly address the supply deficit in Dumaguete City.
In a press conference Thursday, MDW Chief Operating Officer David Berba said the growing population of Dumaguete needs 56 million liters per day (MLD) but the total water production from the 20 deep wells in the City, coupled with a systems loss of 43 percent, accounts for only 41 MLD.
The four main causes of water losses are the ageing and deteriorated water pipes, substandard materials, leaking exposed pipes and contractor diggings hitting the water pipes.
The MDW has invested over P10 million in new technology to detect water leaks such as acoustic ground microphones, flow measurement and pressure loggers.
Engr. Jolex Abellon, MDW Production Division head, said these new equipment partly helped detect and repair a total of 3,573 leaks in 2021.
For 2022, the MDW aims to identify and repair a total of 6,000 water leaks. Abellon said the MDW is also in the process of acquiring land to be the site of two new pumping stations with reservoirs, while the upgrading of three pumping stations is in the pipeline for this year. He added that the energization of new wells are also dependent on the approval of the required national government permits. Other acquisitions will be equipment for automation and electrical surge protection devices, and a new generator set with an automatic transfer switch to replace an old unit.
Engr. Anna Mae Goduco, MDW Engineering Division head, also bared the strategy for addressing the demand gap which is to interconnect the main waterlines. She said the two new pumping stations will be strategically situated to allow the MDW to shift water supply across zones that would need them most. This project, which will be done in phases, is expected to be completed by next year through a substantial capital investment. The first phase will be the replacement of the water pipe connecting to Pumping Station 20 in barangay Buñao. The four-inch pipe will be replaced by a 10-inch pipe, which is expected to add 25 percent of the supply needed for barangays Buñao, Bantayan, Daro, Piapi, Motong and Looc.
Meanwhile, Berba shared that the ground wells are not directly affected by the dry season but an increase in consumption will have an effect on water demand.
“We are using deep wells as we get our water from aquifers 150 to 200 meters underground. Our water supply has also been historically constant,” he said.
But he reminded the public that there is a supply deficit of 15 MLD and the increased usage of water could lead to decreased water pressure. Berba said MDW plans to initially address the supply deficit by adding 8 MLD in the next two years.
“By 2023, we will only have a 10 MLD deficit and we will continue to address that in the coming years,” he said.
