AN OFFICIAL of the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) has announced that it has lifted the water rationing effective Monday, July 4.
The lifting of the water rationing came after the recommendation of Engineer Teotimo Reyes, Jr., ZCWD production department manager, and concurred by Engineer Alejo Rojas, Jr., the water firms’ assistant general manager for operations.
Reyes said the water elevation at the diversion dam of ZCWD has slowly stabilized to normal level brought by the normal rainfall with the onset of the rainy season.
Reyes said the normal rainfall has also brought about the steady rise of the daily production of ZCWD enabling them to supply water for 24 hours to the 57,000 active concessioners.
He said the lowest river stream flow recorded as of June 28 was 5,171 cubic meters per hour (m3/hr).
He added the Surface Water Production Facility (Water Treatment Plant and Old Reservoir) requires only about 5,000 m3/hr of raw water to sustain its normal water production and cater to the demand of customers.
The ZCWD implemented water rationing started on January 8 as the water elevation at its dam dropped way below the normal level of 74.20 meters due to the prolonged dry spell brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.
The ZCWD divided its distribution pipelines into three sectors to enable them to supply water for 12 hours daily in each of the sector.
From the initial of 12 hours daily, the rationing scheme was shortened to eight, then to seven, and to 10 hours but on every other day schedule starting March 21.
Meanwhile, Reyes said they are undertaking some adjustments to ensure steady flow of water into the pipelines of the ZCWD. Bong Garcia