The Davao City Water District (DCWD) allayed fears that it might be affected by the long dry-spell.
Lawyer Bernardo Delima, chief of the human resources department and spokesperson of the Davao City Water District, said the water district is currently adequately supplied through the 65 production wells which suck water from the aquifer.
He said the aquifer has a depth from 50 to 100 meters from the surface.
“We are accessing the deepest aquifer which is not vulnerable to the effects of the El Nino phenomenon,” Delima said.
He said shallow aquifers might be affected just the same with other sources of water like streams and rivers which dry up because of the long dry spell.
Delima said the aquifer is replenished with water from the rivers and the rain.
“The city’s source of drinking water has been there for centuries. It will not be affected even for one summer,” he said.
Delima said with the rising population of the city, the DCWD addresses it by increasing production.
He said that yearly they have a projection on the demand for water in the city.
“We also project the need for more water production. Currently, the need for 2019 is 345- million liters a day to satisfy our whole coverage in the city,” Delima said.
Just the same, Delima admitted that there were areas where the DCWD failed to meet the water demand when the water supply was not available 24 hours a day.
Delima put this underserved area at around 9 percent of the 224,000 number of concessioners who suffer less than 24 hours of water supply.
“They may have water at certain point in a day from 12 midnight to dawn, particularly, during off-peak hours,” he said. (By Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)
20
