BARANGAY Guba officials said water supply is so meager in their area, its strange that some families in sitio Cateves I worry about contamination.“There is no contamination if our water supply is not even sufficient,” said barangay captain Rene Limotan. “We even have to buy water from the city.” The burial site is located within a protected watershed area. Some residents still have reservations about the impact of a Muslim cemetery on their water supply as government agencies continue to monitor the quality of spring water there. Venerando Alcantara, 43, who tends a vegetable garden near the cemetery, volunteered to point out to the outflow of pale brown water with a think film of oil within the two-hectare donated property. Venerando is the brother of Ernie Alcantara, who first reported the presence of an “oily substance” in the water’s spring to last month. But the brownish water could be a normal occurrence becaue of the clay type of soil in the area, said sanitary inspector Boy Deparine of the Cebu City Health Office. He said water quality in the barangay is tested every six months. Seven of 13 testing areas in barangay Guba showed positive for E. coli bacteria. But he said results also vary from month to month because the water table is at different levels and produces intermittent test results. The first burial spot is 122 meters away from the jetmatic pump maintained by a farmer’s group. Under Section 90 of the Santitation Code of the Philippines, “No burial ground shall be located within 50 meters from either side of a river or within 50 meters from any source of water supply. “Sometimes the area tests positive (for E.Coli bacteria) and sometimes negative. so it is better to boil water, prepare stock solutions or use an improvised chlorinator,” he said. Residents can make an improvised chlorinator by filling two-thirds of an empty plastic water bottle with sand, adding two tablespoons of chlorine and dipping this in the spring box. A stock solution, meanwhile, is a mixture of one tablespoon of cholorine granules in a liter of water. This will ensure it is safe to drink. Fr. Gerardo Jed Matela, Sto. Niño parish priest, said they built a water reservoir near the mountain spring since they have a limited water supply. In his five-year tenure , the source of water has been a mountain spring. “We have a limited amount of water during summer or when there is no rain,” he said. Barangay captain Limotan said reports of water discoloration and oil have not reached his office. “I wasn’t aware of that. Had I known, I would have called the City Health Office. | 
