Water firm to develop Bulokbulok Spring

MAASIN CITY -- The Maasin Water District (MWD) is set to develop the Bulokbulok Spring as additional source of water supply for the city dwellers.

Rio de Verde from Cagayan de Oro City is providing technical assistance for the undertaking.

Newly-appointed MWD general manager Nestor Geraldo revealed they have already sent the necessary required documents to the main office of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) for the approval of P22.5-million loan to be used for the development of the Bulokbulok Spring.

The development of the Bulokbulok Spring was made following the water shortage experienced by city concessionaires.

Geraldo said the seven-month dry spell, the additional one hundred plus concessionaires last year and the discovery of illegal connections in some areas were the main causes of the scarcity of water.

The increasing number of city inhabitants was another factor, Geraldo said.

The occurrences of rains during the month have greatly contributed to the augmentation of water supply to many households whose faucets were installed in one-storey buildings.

However, in two or three-storey buildings, water would come out from the faucets either during midnight or at dawn.

To solve the problem on illegal connections, he said, the board of directors have issued a resolution mandating the MWD field men to disconnect all illegal connections and to impose fines to violators.

"The illegal connections are considered as the first offense and the violators will be warned", he said, "For the second infraction, the violator/s will be fined P1, 000. And for the third violation, the offender's water connection will be permanently cut."

At present, the Maasin Water District has three springs and three deep wells, which are located at Canlitid in San Jose, Capores in Batuan and in Nasaug.

Geraldo further informed there are two additional ongoing deep well projects in Barangays Sorosoro and Batuan.

He said his field men would soon connect the Batuan deep well to MWD's mainline in the city thru series of PVC pipes to augment the supply of water to users. The cost of pipes and labors were estimated to reach the amount of P280, 000, he said.

The MWD will also be buying 117 pipes, he said, to connect the Sorosoro deep well to the mainline either in January or February of next year.

On the other hand, Congressman Roger Mercado said Rio de Verde, water system installer company has sent recently some of its technical men here to conduct a feasibility study of the Bulokbulok Spring as another source of water supply.

The part time teacher of Saint Joseph College has confirmed this and confided that Rio de Verde will be the one to make a design as guide for the project implementation by MWD for a modern water system. It also include the proper installations of pipes from its main source down to Barangay Maria Clara and the neighboring barangays of Pasay, Ibarra and Pugaling.

The more than 100 huge PVC pipes to be used for the series of pipes connections in the four barangays would come from the city government. He said when the works for the tapping of the Bulokbulok Spring start anytime next year, it could be finished within three to four months.

Moreover, he said, MWD has its treatment plants in Canlitid and Batuan and that its water sources were treated with chlorine to kill the bacteria. However, if the water becomes murky due to heavy rains, he said, alum would be used to treat the water.

Now and then many folks will be going to the naturally cold Bulokbulok Spring, especially during the hot season to take a bath, to swim and to soak themselves for a refreshing feeling.

Its overflowing voluminous of spillage would go down into the nearby hectares of rice fields and even going farther to irrigate adjacent farms. But when the concrete-confined Bulokbulok Spring would be converted into another source of potable water, swimming and soaking in the spring would just become a thing of the past. Leyte Samar Daily Express