Speaker Martin Romualdez on Sunday vowed to help the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) address its problem of system losses, which could have a huge impact on the government’s water conservation, affordable water, and food security efforts.
LWUA Chairman Ronnie Ong met with Romualdez earlier this month to seek his assistance in reducing, if not totally eliminating, the almost 30 percent annual water system loss of the water districts under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Although startled by the figure, Romualdez was optimistic that the problem can be solved through the rehabilitation of water supply systems and capacity-building.
“The solution to these water service interruptions could be right under our noses. Patching up these water systems losses means more water for all at a time when El Niño remains a very serious threat to our daily convenience and food production,” Romualdez said.
He said the ongoing deliberations on the 2024 budget were a perfect opportunity to explore solutions, including the rehabilitation of water supply systems and modernizing LWUA, Romualdez said.
In their meeting, Ong informed Romualdez that the water districts–which serve areas outside Metro Manila–yield an average non-revenue water (NRW) rate of 29.34 percent.
Ong said this translates to an annual water loss of around 488 million cubic meters, a quantity surpassing half the capacity of Angat Dam, which is the water lifeline for Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Romualdez recalled that President Marcos emphasized efforts to attain water security amid an impending El Niño event in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 24.
The Chief Executive has also issued Memorandum Circular No. 22 in June, compelling government offices to enforce national water conservation measures.
Ong said the NRW problem has a “capital-intensive infrastructure” component to address physical losses.
He also said that water districts have inadequate budgets to digitalize or build their capacity to address the commercial or virtual water loss component due to meter inaccuracies, illegal connections, and billing errors.
Romualdez and Ong agreed that addressing NRW is the low-lying fruit or the first domino among all solutions in ensuring water security.
Ong emphasized that NRW is a pervasive issue or one that has been going on for decades simply because the water districts do not have the budget to install new pipes with better quality and ensure speedy maintenance and repairs as water systems deteriorate over time or are damaged during typhoons and road projects.
“We must address this now… A reduced NRW will actually mean more affordable water,” Ong said, because production costs would be lower and supply interruptions would become less frequent.
LWUA says there are at least 244 water districts with NRW rates exceeding 21 percent, including at least 20 water districts that have NRW rates ranging from 48 percent to 71 percent.
“Solving the NRW will have an impact on food security as well, since reduced water system losses would mean that we won’t have to spread our water resources too thinly to the detriment of farmers, livestock, and other food producing industries,” Romualdez said.
LWUA is a government agency with technical expertise and a lending function on water supply projects, as well as regulatory power over 532 water districts in cities and provinces outside of Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte on Sunday said Congress could help address such the matter by empowering local government units to compel commercial, institutional and residential-estate developers to install rainwater retention facilities within their projects.
He filed a bill to authorize LGUs to make the installation of rainwater retention facilities in all new commercial, institutional and residential infrastructure projects in Metro Manila and other major cities a prerequisite for the issuance of construction permits to property developers.
For ongoing commercial, residential and institutional projects whose approved designs have no rainwater retention facilities, Villafuerte’s proposal has a provision requiring the developers of these construction projects to build them within three years if and when this becomes law, or face penalties for every year of non-compliance.
“The primary goal of this proposed LGU requirement before property developers can start building their projects is to preserve, restore or mimic the natural hydrology of the soil,” House Bill 5640 reads.
“Rainwater is a free, abundant and regular natural resource that the Philippines is fortunate to receive year in and out. It is high time that we make use of it for the general advantage of our people,” it added.
“These would-be rainwater retention facilities shall capture the rainwater, purify the same, and store it for non-potable uses, thereby effectively reducing the amount of rainwater that submerges Metro Manila roads during the rainy season as well as partially feeding the demand for water in the cities,” Villafuerte said.
The government must also invest in small water-impounding facilities and pumps to help communities retain rainwater for their water needs, he said.