THE Davao City Water District (DCWD) announced to the media on Monday, October 16, 2023 that their Facebook page is at risk of being taken down “within 24 hours - which is around 10 p.m.” of the same day, due to “mass reporting”.
In a statement, DCWD said they had been notified by Meta that their page was being mass-reported.
“We will do our best to negotiate, but the likelihood of being taken down is very high. If this would happen, we would need to rebuild our social media presence from the ground up,” DCWD spokesperson Johana Cresta Duhaylungsod said on October 16.
However, in a separate statement, Duhaylungsod clarified that the supposed Meta notification has “a high possibility” that it is not true, according to their information technology (IT) team.
“Our IT has recommended na naa possibility dili legit ang gi-send na notification (that there is a possibility that the notification is not legit),” Duhaylungsod said.
Nevertheless, the spokesperson said they are preparing to create and transfer to a new Facebook page. As of press time, the page has not been taken down.
Water interruptions continue
Meanwhile, the water utility had reported several water interruptions in the city since the start of October, which garnered reactions from Dabawenyo netizens swarming their Facebook page. Some would even claim that the water utility “had not earlier reported” the water interruptions in advance.
“Ano na Water District? October 1st pa ang tarong agas dria sa Pdrahai [PDHRAI Village in Sasa, Davao City] naa pajud mi sa taas na bahin sa area niya tag kdlawon na moagas pajud tig agas sa tubig niya hangtod kron wala ghapon tarong agas. Naunsa namn ni!! [sic] (What now, Water District? It has been October 1st since the water has been properly supplied in PDHRAI Village in Sasa, Davao City and we are located in an elevated area where water flows only at dawn. Now, water is intermittent. What is happening now?)” a Facebook user commented on one of DCWD’s Facebook posts.
In a phone interview however, Duhaylungsod said that the low to no water pressure in Sasa and Panacan can be attributed to the ongoing repairs in the Panacan Water Supply System (WSS). As of press time, interventions are still ongoing.
“With respect to water supply and demand naa na ta sa threshold, so motupong na siya, so if that’s the case, sa panahon sa peak hours sa water usage anticipated nato na magdoble ang demand (Considering the current water supply and demand situation, we are on the threshold, meaning, both supply and demand are on the same level. So during peak hours of water usage it is anticipated that the demand doubles),” Duhaylungsod said.
“[Because of this] naa pod mga areas na nasa elevated portions o naa sa mga farthest points sa atong distribution network, mao ni kadtong mohinay o mawala ang ilang supply and you can only build enough pressure nga makatubig na on the time na mohupa na ang kadtong gamit sa ubang areas (Because of this situation, there are those areas situated in elevated portions or at the farthest points of our distribution network that experience slow or insufficient water supply. They can only generate enough pressure to provide water once the demand will decrease in other areas),” she added.
As for the Agdao areas, as of press time, DCWD has yet to determine exactly what caused the emergency water interruption.
“Sa Agdao diri na siya sa [Dumoy] Line 1, nagpa-deploy na mi og team to verify unsa ang cause kay true enough naay pagbaba sa pressure so possibly naay leaking dira so dili pa ta makahatag og official announcement (In Agdao, that belongs to Dumoy Line 1, we have already deployed a team to investigate the cause of the pressure drop. It is highly likely that there is a leak in that area. Until we have verified the exact cause, we couldn’t provide an official announcement),” Duhaylungsod said.
“But atong initial na ginabuhat karon is nag-coordinate ta sa kadtong operation with respect sa atong affected na location and gipangitaan natog paagi na mapa-deploy ta og water delivery (But what we do is we coordinate with our teams to determine the cause of water interruption in the location, and we are doing our best to deploy water delivery there),” she added.
DCWD consumers can call their 24/7 hotline for their concerns through 235-3293 for service-related concerns, 244-6767 for leak reports and water quality concerns, and 09277988966, 09084410653, or 09255113293 for their text support. They can also be emailed at callcenter@davao-water.gov.ph. ICE