• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
PrimeWater and its joint venture partner, Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA), shared their water innovation initiatives to further enhance water supply requirements in their served areas in Bacolod City.
During a hearing led by Councilor Claudio Jesus Raymundo “Kalaw” Puentevella, PrimeWater shared its current and upcoming action plans already in the pipeline to ensure stable water supply in Bacolod City.
In a statement issued by PrimeWater, BACIWA District Director Mona Dia Jardin disclosed that the pipelines of BACIWA are mostly very old, with some already around 80 years old, even before the joint venture agreement (JVA) with PrimeWater.
“Given this challenge along with the continuously growing demand, we do not have enough resources to maintain very old water pipes across the city. That is why we looked for a joint venture partner who can invest in rehabilitating and building the capacity necessary to ensure sustainable water supply for the city, not just today but for generations to come,” Jardin emphasized.
Due to aging pipes and the high presence of iron and manganese in some pipe sections in Bacolod City, maintaining and improving water quality in certain areas are being prioritized by developing additional water sources that will address immediate requirements, particularly in Barangay Taculing, which covers Puentebella and City Heights.
The statement further said that regular pipeline flushing is also being conducted at a daily average of 100 blow-off valves, to flush the diluted coating of naturally occurring sediments and prevent further build-up within the pipes ensuring delivery of clean water supply to concessionaires.
As an added innovation, regular air scouring is also conducted as a way to flush out unwanted sediments in waterways through compressed air, PrimeWater said.
It added that a total of 11.848 kilometers of pipelines in five Bacolod City subdivisions have gone through continuous air scouring to ensure the quality of water being supplied is maintained, as of this time.
Water quality is also maintained by conducting regular tests, daily and monthly, in compliance with the Philippine Standard for Drinking Water (PNSDW) standards and the local City Health Office. A recent parallel testing also showed that Primewater-BACIWA passed the water quality assurance activity conducted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Safe Water Project in a joint chlorine residual monitoring conducted from 12 sampling points across Bacolod City, ensuring the utmost quality of water to the strictest standards.
The PrimeWater-BACIWA partnership also reported significant improvements after barely two years of their partnership. An improvement in average water pressure was recorded from five pounds per square inch (psi) prior to JV in 2020 to around seven psi in 2022; as well as an improvement in additional average water availability to concessionaires which used to be 17 hours per day before the joint venture to 20 hours during the partnership.
“PrimeWater, in partnership with BACIWA, is committed to delivering and finding more ways to provide quality and sustainable water supply in all our served areas,” said PrimeWater Bacolod Branch Manager Farah Jenny Monteclaro.*
