Water District features
 

Dagupan City Water District embarks on a pioneering potable water supply development project

Dagupan City's island water project

The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) recently cited the newly-completed project of the Dagupan City Water District (DCWD) which successfully extended potable piped water service to four island barangays of Dagupan City through a network of underwater pipelines--- the first of its kind and proportion to be undertaken in Northern Luzon or in the country for that matter.

The DCWD in August 2004 inaugurated its underwater pipeline project that connected the four island barangays of Pantal Pantalan, Calmay, Lomboy and Salipangao and the sitios of Dupo and Pugaro to its main water supply system in the Dagupan City mainland.

The project, completed at the cost of P30 million, was supported by House Speaker Jose de Venecia who provided P20 million from his Countryside Development Fund (CDF) and the city government of Dagupan under mayor Benjamin Lim which committed a financial assistance in the amount of P2 million. The DCWD under general manager Ramon Reyna and board chair Claudette D. Dalusong provided a counterpart fund of P10 million. Rep. De Venecia who represents Pangasinan's fourth district that includes Dagupan City, led the inauguration rites held in barangay Salipungao.
Other than the scale and novelty of the project, what made the undertaking noteworthy was the fact that it was carried out with the support of three city administrations. The project was started in the early 1990s during the incumbency of Mayor Liberato Reyna, GM Ramon Reyna's father, and was continued under Mayor Alipio Fernandez until the administration of incumbent Mayor Lim.

Another notable aspect of the project was that only ordinary local divers were used during the underwater installation of the pipes. " Unlike in other underwater pipeline connections I have known elsewhere were professional divers using scuba gears were employed, here we just used the ordinary local divers, mostly residents of the beneficiary areas, to install the pipelines in the river bed", GM Reyna enthused. " Di na kailangan ng oceanographer kasi alam na alam na nila kung saan malakas ang underwater current sa haba na ng karanasan nila sa paninisid ng tahong dito", Reyna added.

The local's familiarity with the underwater current and other natural factors during the project implementation helped the water district in pinpointing and plotting where to exactly place or install the pipelines underneath. Heavy concrete blocks were used to weigh down and kept the pipes in place, GM Reyna said. "Of course, di naman gaanon kadali ung pag-iinstall ng pipes sa ilalim ng tubig kasi there had also been cases where strong underwater currents were able to disarranged portions of the pipeline forcing us to find more suitable locations. And there is also the problem of silt accumulation and low visibility down there" GM Reyna said. The DCWD head said he will continue to rely on these local divers in the maintenance and upkeep of the underwater pipeline facility.

The island interconnection project is just the latest of DCWD's achievements since it started an extensive program to rebuild its water system and rejuvenate the delivery of piped potable water supply to Dagupan City in the aftermath of the severe damage wrought by the 1990 major earthquake to its facilities and the city as a whole.

GM Reyna is only too happy to report that the water district and its concessionaires now numbering more than 15,000 households and growing have fully recovered from the devastation and ill effects of that cataclysm." Thanks to the Filipinos' indomitable spirit and the support os such agencies as the LWUA which have enabled us to transform that natural calamity into some sort of a blessing in disguise", Reyna said.

The 1990 tremor badly damaged DCWD facilities and drastically reduced the water district's water service operations so much that residents of this city suffered from scarcity of potable water for more than two years.

But far from being discouraged the DCWD, together with the other sectors of the city, undertook efforts to slowly and oftentimes painfully extricate Dagupan from its then woeful socioeconomic conditions.

Starting with a P5 million rehabilitation fund from the national government in 1992 which it utilized in restoring and repairing its damaged facilities, the DCWD went on to develop other water services and expand the water system.
In early 1993, with the help of LWUA, DCWD became a recipient of a loan package worth P130 million from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan through the 14th Yen Credit Loan Package under its Provincial Cities Water Supply Program.

With this funding, DCWD was able to implement its Phase I expansion project, which was completed well ahead of schedule in 1994 at the cost of P54 million.

The project involved construction of three additional deepwells and laying of 28 kilometers of distribution lines assuring 24-hour water service to 21 barangays of Dagupan City.

With a P20 million savings from the original P74 million budget for the Phase I project, DCWD went ahead and started its Phase II expansion project in 1995. This project resulted in the construction of a water reservoir and peak-hour pumphouse facilities build at the cost of P10 million. It also involved the construction of new deepwells and installation of eight kilometers of additional pipelines.

Late last year, the water district also completed and inaugurated its new three-storey office building which also housed a fully-equipped training facility that can accommodate around 100 participants including board and lodging. The building which was built with the water district's won fund was jointly inaugurated by LWUA administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora and Mayor Benjamin Lim.

Now that adequate water supply is assured for the city, DCWD started improving its internal operations like billing and collections for which the water district has acquired state-of-the-art computers, including a modem for internet operations.

It has also started regulating groundwater exploitation and utilization within its area of responsibility to assure water sources for Dagupan City well into the 21st century.c