The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has successfully piloted the use of wind power in generating and pumping water from a deep well source for potable water supply distribution to residents and visiting tourists in the scenic island municipality of Tingloy in Batangas Bay off Mabini, Batangas.

This was reported recently by LWUA Board Chairman Prospero Pichay, Jr. who said that the windmill-driven water supply project is part of the innovations he started at LWUA when he assumed stewardship late in 2008 to introduce as well as institute the use of cheaper but highly-applicable technologies for water supply systems development especially for the isolated and distant island or hinterland communities in the country still lacking access to adequate electricity.

Pichay said the success of the pilot windmill-powered water supply project in Tingloy island municipality augurs well for the potentials of using the same technology in other island communities in the country especially those that like Tingloy are still constrained by inadequate electrical power supplies to run pumps to generate as well as distribute potable water to the residents.

The Tingloy water system was originally built in the late 80s and consisted of dug wells as sources. The system was turned over to the operation and management of the Mabini Water District (MWD) which proceeded to effect further improvements on the system and expansion of service. But in the past few years, the original well sources situated nearer the coast of the island turned salty due to seawater intrusion and had to be abandoned.

The water district under MWD General Manager Franklin Castillo and founding Board Chairman Leo Maramot proceeded to locate a new deepwell source upland some distance away from the town proper. But Its development for immediate operation was hampered by the lack of electrical lines in the area.

Pichay said when he learned about this predicament, he included Tingloy among the areas where the use of wind power will be introduced and tested by LWUA for water supply generation and distribution. Pichay personally visited the Tingloy project recently and expressed satisfaction over the performance of the five-storey high windmill that was installed near the deepwell source that is now pumping water from the source up to an elevated 175 cubic meter capacity concrete ground reservoir for storage and eventual distribution to the initial target of about 400 families in the Tingloy town center.

Unlike other models that first convert energy Into electricity with some losses, the Tlngloy windmill acts like a jackpump that automatically draws water from the source and pumps it to an elevated reservoir or storage tank and by gravity on to the household consumers through a network of transmission and distribution lines, Pic hay said explaining how the new Tingloy system operates.

April 16, 2010