TO MAKE sure water supply improves when the El Niño worsens next month, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has implemented short-term solutions to get additional water.

MCWD spokesperson Charmaine Kara said they already asked their bulk suppliers to increase the water they are supplying to the water district.

“We are already in talks with our bulk supplier in Barangay Mambaling and asked them to increase the supply they have been providing us,” she said.

MCWD also installed a booster pump in Barangay Carreta to bring the water of their bulk supplier from Carmen to the uptown areas in Cebu City.

At present, five firms are supplying bulk water to MCWD.

When asked how many cubic meters of water the bulk suppliers can add to their supply to MCWD, Kara said it will be up to the firms how much they can add.

Bulk suppliers contribute 26 percent of MCWD’s daily water production while the groundwater well sources contribute 70 percent. The remaining four percent is from surface sources.

Last Wednesday, April 24, MCWD also started the drilling of 30 well sites in Cebu City to get a small volume of water to augment the supply in nearby areas amid the dwindling supply in the city.

“We will also ask the barangay captains in affected barangays to inform us of possible water sources or well sites that we can develop right away. We are also in talks with other government agencies to allow us to drill exploration wells in their properties,” Kara said.

Since Tuesday, April 23, the Jaclupan Dam’s water production has dropped to 9,000 cubic meters per day from 33,000 cubic meters as a result of the El Niño.

As a consequence, at least 24,000 households in Talisay City and parts of downtown Cebu City will only have running water for one to two hours a day. (RVC)