With only 40 percent of its franchise area being served, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has asked for help from private water suppliers to look for water sources.Nine areas in Cebu and Mandaue Cities, mostly located in upland terrain, don’t have 24-hour water supply. Total requirement: 27,500 cuber meters daily. In what MCWD officials said was the first meeting of its kind, representatives of MCWD and private water suppliers met yesterday to explore how to address the water shortages. Raul Tabasa, head of MCWD’s engineering department, said it was difficult to bring water to these areas using MCWD’s transmission and distribution lines. The nine areas include parts of barangay Apas, Lahug, Busay, Guadalupe, Capitol-Camputhaw, Talamban, Bacayan, San Jose and Pit-os. MCWD general manager Armando Paredes said this was the first time the water district called a meeting with private water suppliers to “explore or confirm the probability of getting a bulk water supply.” “Groundwater in Cebu has been precarious. We are also not sure if surface water is enough or if it can be obtained at a reasonable distance with service areas,” Paredes said. “Partnership with private suppliers will hopefully materialize talks that there are small pockets of water sources in certain places.” MCWD relies on water pumped from underground aquifers for over 90 percent of its supply for Metro Cebu. The rest is sourced from surface water in the Maghaway weir and Buhisan dam. Paredes said private water companies have more flexibility in negotiating with property owners of possible water sources, such as local government units (LGU). He said based on MCWD’s experience, LGUs would often say that the MCWD's offer of one percent revenue share – the highest it can offer based on government rules – was not enough. “As a government entity, we operate under stricter rules which sometimes cause the delay of completing negotiations. Private companies are more flexible in procurement matters and they can pay royalty to LGUs,” Paredes said. Parades said MCWD is giving water suppliers one month to study if they can provide water to these nine unserved areas. If suppliers are interested, a bidding would be conducted to determine the best deal for MCWD.
Tabasa told the suppliers that MCWD would put up infrastructure, such as pipelines and reservoirs, for this effort. “We will build all facilities. All you need to provide is the water,” Tabasa told the private water firms. Tabasa said MCWD was ready to build a 1,000-cubic-meter reservoir near Bethany Subdivision to help get water to the hills of barangay Guadalupe. “The water (from the reservoir) will be used during peak periods when demand for water is high, such as 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. when most households use water to take baths and cook food,” Tabasa said. MCWD has allocated around P400 million for infrastructure projects to be put up in the nine areas. Lito Maderazo, president of Mactan Rock Industries Inc., said the company has conducted studies in some of the areas cited by MCWD. Maderazo said his company still needs to determine if it is financially viable and enviornmentally sustainable for Mactan Rock to supply water to any of these areas. MCWD said barangays Apas, Lahug and Busay need 2,000 cubic meters daily. Barangays Guadalupe and Capitol-Camputhaw needs 3,000 cubic meters. Barangays Talamban, Bacayan, San Jose and Pitos, considered one area, needs 4,500 cubic meters. The same volume is needed in barangays Umapad, Opao, Alang-Alang, Ibabao-Estancia, Mantuyong and Guizo, considered one area in Mandaue City. The area covering barangays Cabancalan, Casutingan, Tingub, Bakilid and Maguikay in Mandaue City need 5,000 cubic meters. | 
