Community-managed potable water supply program turned over in Kapangan

By Susan C. Aro

Tuesday 19th of June 2012

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, June 19 (PIA) -- Low-cost water supply technology and sanitation system projects were turned-over to five barangays in Kapangan municipality.

Kapangan Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer Jane Toribio said that installed low-cost water supply technology project will benefit 1,410 households, while a maximum of five households will benefit under each of the sanitation system installed in the barangays of Taba-ao, Pudong, Pongayan, Sagubo, and Balakbak.

The said project falls under the community-managed potable water supply, sanitation and hygiene (CPWASH) program, which addresses basic social services of agrarian reform beneficiaries,

Structures turned over for the low-cost water technology include water tank/water collector, bio-sand filters, iron removal filters, and spring box for the water sources, while structure for the sanitation system include bio-gas digesters.

The technology makes use of indigenous materials and ferrocement used in constructing boats for the concrete tanks and bio-digester. Ferro-cement used in constructing boats is simpler and requires lesser materials and labor, which makes use of mortar instead of graveled concrete.

The biogas digester entails the conversion of human, animal, and other biodegradable wastes into biogas.

Components of the project include a concrete tank, biosand filter, iron removal filter, and spring box for the water supply and biogas digester to produce cooking gas. The wastes from the piggery will be channeled to the bio-digester and converted to cooking gas.

The local government unit of Kapangan earmarked P600,000 as the direct cost of the project.

Congressman Ronald Cosalan gave a counterpart from his Priority Development Assistance Fund amounting to P250,000 for livelihood projects. The amount will be channeled to community-based organizations (CBOs) such as cooperatives, which loan out funds for piggery entrepreneurship to interested members.

The Department of Agrarian Reform-Benguet also allotted a total of P20,000 for the monitoring and supervision of the project.

The CBOs also pegged P130,000, used for locally available materials and as labor counterpart.

Toribio said the CBOs, which will manage the projects, crafted operations and maintenance policies as part of the sustainability plan of the project. It is also envisioned to make it into a water utility service where fees will be collected from households. (JDP/SCA- PIA CAR)