WITH abundant sources of fresh water from most of the town’s rivers and watershed areas, water shouldn’t be scarce in Barili. Yet, according to Magdaleno Bargamento of the Kauswagan Water Services and Sanitation Cooperative (KAWSSCO), the coop struggled to provide enough potable water to nearly 2,500 household consumers.
“Ang Barili, way problema sa water source; ang problema ang pag manage sa water source (Barili has no problem with water sources; the main problem is how to develop and manage these water sources),” said Bargamento.
Located 61 kilometers away from the city, residents in the 19 barangays of Barili rely on KAWSSCO for their daily water consumption. Mercedita Marinay, school head of Cabcaban Elementary School, said that parents, mostly mothers, had to stay up late at night to store water for the students’ consumption.
Acting on these challenges, KAWSSCO partnered with Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and Coca-Cola Foundation (CCF) to rehabilitate and upgrade Barili’s water systems in 2017.
Along with the construction of a water reservoir and the installation of transmission and distribution pipes and a gas-chlorinator, the project also looked into the development of Mayana falls as a new water source to increase its supply. Having the water system project also allowed KAWSSCO to source bulk water from the Mantayupan river channel that stretches to the Mantayupan Falls, the town’s main tourist attraction.
With the rehabilitated water system and a new water source, household consumers would no longer have to endure disruptions in water supply.