ASIDE from the building or house structure, Davao City Water District (DCWD) reminds its consumers to consider checking water pipelines after an earthquake occurrence.
This came after the city experienced the intensity of the magnitude 6 earthquakes that struck Tulunan, Cotabato, causing damage to infrastructures.
DCWD deputy spokesperson Jovana Cresa Duhaylungsod said it is the consumer’s responsibility to check their water pipelines if it had inflicted damage caused by the quake.
“Nagpagawas mi og advisory sa general public na i-apil og check ilang pipelines for possible leaking. Dili lang pud structure sa ilang building. Kay naay possibility na after sa linog, pwede kini isa sa madamage (We already released an advisory to the public to include in their inspection their pipelines for possible leaking, not only in the building’s structural integrity. Because there is a high chance that these would also be damaged by the earthquake),” Duhaylungsod said.
She also encouraged consumers to practice water storing to be used in times of water interruption which may be caused by unforeseen circumstances, such as earthquakes and typhoons.
“We encouraged the public to practice water storing. Wala ta kabalo unsa ‘tong possible na kakulian sa mga ing-ana when disaster strikes. Apil unta sa ila pangandaman nga nakaipon na tubig for emergency purposes (We don’t know when disaster strikes. We hope they would include water storing for emergency purposes in their disaster-preparedness),” the official said.
DCWD announced last week that it would conduct an emergency water service interruption from 9 a.m. of November 8, Friday, to 9 a.m. of November 9, Saturday, to give way for the emergency repair of the 800-millimeter diameter steel pipeline at La Vista Monte Phase 2 in Bangkal, which served as the main water transmission line in the affected areas in the city.
The water company said the damage was detected during the structural integrity inspection of all DCWD water infrastructures following the series of strong earthquakes that hit the city.
However, DCWD also announced the possibility of low water pressure to no water during the recovery period of DCWD’s operation. In this period, service connections situated in elevated areas and far from DCWD’s pumping stations were projected to experience low water pressure to no water during peak hours while DCWD’s operation is still stabilizing.
DCWD said the actual repair was completed at 2:10 a.m. of November 10 due to several factors on site which deterred the progress of the welding works. These included the recurring soil cave-ins despite best efforts to shore the repair site, the amount of water coming from underground that had to be pumped out, the rain during the repair activity, and other safety considerations.
“Although gipaningkamutan man gyud sa Water District (DCWD) na i-restore ang tubig right away. Pero wala man gud ta kabalo sa extent sa damage na pwede maging epeokto sa mga ing-ana nga natural calamity (Although DCWD exerted its effort to immediately normalize the water operation, but we cannot tell the extent of the damage that the natural calamity caused),” Duhaylungsod said.
“I hope they understand that if we will not immediately repair it, water interruption could have worsened,” she added.
Meanwhile, she said no other pipelines were severely affected based on their latest monitoring.
However, they are still conducting ongoing surveillance to its pipelines.
She also said, prior to its pipe laying, they consider the area whether it is identified as earthquake-prone or not passable.