Davao City’s bulk water project (2)
Among the biggest infrastructures that are on the finishing touches are the water treatment plant and laboratory building and facilities.
Daily TribuneAmong the biggest infrastructures that are on the finishing touches are the water treatment plant and laboratory building and facilities.
The Davao City bulk water project consists of two parts. Part 1 is being undertaken by Apo Agua which is tasked to construct a weir at the converging point of Tamugan and Panigan rivers in Barangay Tawan-Tawan, a desilting complex where debris and sands are removed from the raw water, a mini hydropower plant downstream, a complex of water treatment facilities and a laboratory that monitors and test the quality of water. From this point starts a network of giant transmission pipes from the treatment complex to all the eight off-take points of Davao City Water District.
Part 2 of BWP is the responsibility of DCWD. It partakes in the replacements of existing old transmission and distribution pipes with bigger and newer ones. The water utility also set up eight OTPs in new expansion areas consisting of seven outlaying additional barangays. OTPs are huge reservoirs that are made of steel.
Embarking on such a big and important bulk water project is not a walk in the park. It was hobbled by senseless government bureaucracy in securing permits not to mention the road rights of way. The conversion of a piece of property for the water treatment plant and laboratory from agricultural to industrial seemed like an eternity. The Davao Regional Office of the Department of Agrarian Reform refused to accept the request for conversion which had been cleared by the City Council for reason that there are still pending business in their office and that they might not be able to meet with Duterte's (he already sat as President) directive to process all applications within 15 days. When it was finally elevated to DAR head office, Apo Agua was given a run around prompting both DCWD and AAII to seek the intervention of Malacañang.
It is simply unimaginable that a project of prime importance would go through the web of bureaucratic procedures. Apo Agua finally commenced working in 2017 only to be stopped later when the coronavirus epidemic struck.
DCWD, on the other hand, was able to start procuring new transmission pipes and steel tanks, and lots for the additional reservoirs as early as 2016. Replacements of old pipes started as soon as the new and bigger ones arrived. By 2019, Engr. Oscar de la Cruz, DCWD Assistant Manager for Technical Services, said about 95 percent of the infrastructures under Part 2 had been accomplished. The cost of the project segment was estimated at P2.5 billion.
Apo Agua cautiously resumed work in 2020 with nearly 4,000 laborers assigned in various places of work. This was to be augmented later as the work progressed. By 2021, all infrastructures along the Tamugan river, which includes an intake weir, a desiltation complex, a surge tank, a mini-hydropower plant downstream, and a 7-feet diameter conduit pipe that connect these structures were practically done.
Among the biggest infrastructures that are on the finishing touches are the water treatment plant and laboratory building and facilities. It is here where the clean water from Tamugan will be siphoned and where the mini-hydropower plant comes into use.
The major transmission lines, measuring about 5 feet in diameter, from the treatment plant to all the off-take points of DCWD are all in place and are meticulously being tested. AAII President Ana Lu assured the Davao City officialdom led by Mayor Sebastian Baste Duterte that by March 2023 they will start supplying bulk water to DCWD's Tugbok OTP benefiting at least 11 barangays. By June next year, the bulk water project of DCWD for Davao City will be fully operational.
City Councilor Pilar Braga, the author of the Davao City Water Code, expressed her appreciation to DCWD for planning and undertaking a gargantuan bulk water project. She stressed that this will not only guarantee the supply of water for generations to come but also will allow the vital aquifers of the city to rest and be fully recharged.
DCWD remains to be the most successful government water utility in the country. Chairman Ed Bangayan, who had steered the firm to its status today, said while they made a few adjustments in the water rates, DCWD rates remain to be the cheapest in its category. He added that with the present expansion towards the industrial zone north of Davao City and the exponential growth of commercial establishments, the cost of water for domestic use might even decline.
Bangayan said DCWD will only use 30 percent of the total volume of water from Tamugan and Panigan rivers to deliver 300 million liters per day.
"We have lots of reserves not to mention the fact that we have rich and fully recharged aquifers. All we asked from the government is to help us preserve and conserve the recharge areas of our aquifers and rivers," he pleaded.