20K Cotabato residents to go waterless for 6 months —official

KIDAPAWAN CITY—Some 20,000 residents in the city and nearby Makilala town in Cotabato province in Mindanao will have no tap-water supply for the next six months, a local water district official said Saturday.

Engineer Sandy Alqueza, assistant general manager of the Metro Kidapawan Water District (MKWD), said some seven-kilometer stretch of their pipelines and other facilities have been damaged by a strong quake last October 31 and its aftershocks. 

Alqueza also said that three of the MKWD’s five major supply lines have severe damage, including the Lapaan springs in Barangay Perez, Ilian spring, and Saguing River all both in Makilala town.

He said the Lapaan springs alone, at least 263 liters per second of potable water supply was shut,  and 110 liters per second from the Ilian springs.

Based on the data from the MKWD water system, its total pipe network is approximately 641,921 linear meters or equivalent to 398.89 miles or 627.4 kilometers of transmission, main, and distribution lines.

Estimate of damage the facilities incurred, according to Alqueza, was at P82.7 million, the same amount the MKWD needs to repair and rehabilitate the facilities, including damaged pipelines and filtration plants.

Most affected were customers  from Makilala, after the Ilian spring sources was damaged.

But Alqueza said they already applied for emergency loan assistance at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), but the availability of the needed funds is still subject of approval, and if the funds would be available, repair and rehabilitation efforts would start soonest.

In the main time, the MKWD has put up at least 14 water stations in the city, and two in Makilala town to facilitate the distribution of potable to water to affected residents.  —LBG, GMA News