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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
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