CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA) -- The Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) has assured its consumers that they will continue to supply water amid the ongoing El Niño weather phenomenon.

Despite its water sources being affected by El Niño, the water service provider in Metro Cebu said they are strengthening their contingency measures.

“Sa pagkakaron sa panahon naa nata tungatunga sa El Niño, naapektuhan gyud ang among sources sa tubig ug diha nata nag problema kay susceptible siya sa kainit,” said MCWD production department manager Tommy Gonzales during the recent Kapihan sa PIA program in Cebu City.

(Currently, since we are in the middle of El Niño, our water sources are really affected and that's when we have problems because they are susceptible to heat.)

MCWD assured that they have implemented mitigation efforts to provide continued services within their area of coverage.

“Apan bisan paman niini, ang MCWD naninguha nga maka supply gihapon tag tubig sa atong mga konsumidor, aduna kitay gipanghimu nga intervention and mitigation measures aron ma serbisyohan gyud natu ang mga consumers kay kaning tubig importante natu nga panginahanglan,” said Gonzales.

(The MCWD is committed to supply water to our consumers. We have implemented intervention and mitigating measures so that we can continue serving our consumers because water is really important for everyone as one of our basic needs.)

As part of its mitigating measures, the MCWD will conduct drilling and commissioning of new wells to create a new water source, buy additional water trucks, and ensure the availability of water pumps.

They will also acquire additional generator sets, deploy additional water tankers to the badly-hit areas, and conduct information drive on water conservation practices.

In a worst-case scenario, MCWD said they will implement distribution management or water rationing in areas without access to water.

The MCWD has three water sources, namely: ground water, which constitutes 50 percent of its water production; surface water, which provides 40 percent of its production; and desalinated water, which provides 10 percent of its production capacity.

Gonzales said their groundwater and desalinated water sources, which produce 151,000 and 25,000 cubic meters per day, respectively, will not be significantly affected, as only their surface water sources will be affected by the dry spell and extreme heat brought by the El Niño phenomenon.

As of March 2024, MCWD’s normal production capacity is up to 301,000 cubic meters per day.

However, their current actual production capacity is only 276,000 cubic meters per day, implying a shortage of 35,000 cubic meters per day as the water demand in Metro Cebu is at 600,000 cubic meters per day.

“Naa mi karon 8 ka water tanker, maka tap sad mig lain nga water tanker in case naa gyuy mga kabalayan nga di maabot sa tubig. Naa mi mga standby nga gensets para kung mag brownout, padayun gihapon ang pag-andar maka supply gihapon tag tubig sa mga panimalay,” said Gonzales.

(We currently have 8 water tankers. We can also tap another water tanker in case there are households without water access. We also have standby gensets so that in the event of a power outage, we can still supply water to our customers.)

MCWD’s coverage areas are Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Talisay City, and the towns of Compostela, Consolacion, Liloan, and Cordova.

Currently, only 52 percent of the service area population, or around 900,000 households in Metro Cebu, are being served by MCWD, with the remaining 48 percent being supplied by another water service provider. (RGC/PIA7 Cebu)