But West Service Area water supply volatile until October 16
Here’s the long and short on the water situation at the Cagayan de Oro City’s West Service Area,
Delivery of the contracted bulk water supply by Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. (RVWCI) to the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) resumed noon last Saturday, 07 October 2017 with a continuous flow rate of 1,700 cubic meters per hour (cmph), or not less than 40,000 cu.m. per day (m3/day).
Aerial drone shot of ongoing repair works on Rio Verde’s main transmission line to COWD as of October 4, 2017 (photo supplied)
However, as earlier discussed during the City Council Committee on Public Utilities public consultation held last Thursday, 05 October 2017, the COWD already needs at least 60,000 m3/day to normalize water supply and pressure to concessionaires in the West Service Area.
But Rio Verde said it will only be ready to deliver the additional volume over the contracted daily volume of 40,000 cu.m. starting Monday, 16 October 2017. Thus, water supply in the affected areas would still continue to be limited for another eight days.
Engr. Joffrey E. Hapitan, Rio Verde Vice President, said they can only supply the additional volume of bulk water needed by the COWD in the West Service Area once repairs are completed on its main 650mm submarine water supply pipe damaged by the recent spate of earthquakes and river debris propelled by floods driven from torrential rains.
Drone shot of ongoing repairs of Rio Verde main submarine transmission line along Cagayan River as of October 4, 2017 (photo supplied)
“Rio Verde will be ready to supply additional volume up to 60,000 m3/day or more starting Monday, 16 October 2017 onwards,” he added.
In an advisory posted on its official website 9:00 am 07 October 2017, the COWD confirmed RVWCI has just resumed supply to COWD’s off-take point with a flow rate of 1,500 cubic meters per hour (cmph) and a pressure of 23 pounds per square inch (psi).
Cagayan de Oro Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade distributes water to residents in Bgy Kauswagan in the aftermath of TS Sendong, Dec 2011. The group was back distributing water Sunday on COWD’s request.
“While this is an improvement from the time when pressure was about 4 to 5 psi, low pressure to no water will still be experienced in the west area. Water delivery will continue to be facilitated. Water from COWD sources is safe. However, due to circumstances that may happen during transport, handling and storage, boiling water for drinking is advised.”
A follow-up post at 1:00 pm of the same day said “RVWCI’s minimum flow rate to COWD Off-Take Point is now 1,700 m3/hr or 40,000 m3/day. Without the desired pressure though, customers in elevated areas and those in the farthest end will still experience low pressure to no water. Water delivery shall be concentrated to those areas.”
Rio Verde VP Joffrey Hapitan inspects ongoing repair works of the main bulk water transmission line to COWD as of October 4, 2017 (photo supplied)
“Meanwhile, construction of Rio Verde’s Cofferdam is also in progress. Welding/Repair of underwater pipe will commence Wednesday next week, ETC: Oct 15. According to Engr. Hapitan, Rio Verde will be ready to supply 60,000 m3/day or more starting Oct 16 onwards.”
Earlier Friday, Hapitan confirmed during a noon time meeting with COWD technical staff that Rio Verde had installed and was commissioning a brand new unit of 650 KW Booster Pump costing P6.0 million.
“This booster pump is responsible in creating higher pressure of water from the Rio Verde Water Treatment Plant into the ‘smaller diameter emergency line’ (HDPE) that is being utilized today to attain 40,000 cubic meters per day flow rate at COWD take off point,” Hapitan explained.
Dripping faucet at Bloomingdale Subd, Bgy Iponan taken around 9AM last Oc 2 shows the kind of service being experienced by consumers in COWD’s West Service Area (photo supplied)
Unfortunately, the higher pressure caused leaks along Rio Verde’s main pipeline from the treatment plant to the HDPE back-up pipeline and bulk water delivery had to be suspended and the booster pump shut down while the leaks were repaired.
Hapitan requested the COWD Production Dept. headed by Engr. Edward Tesoro to lower their required residual pressure at the off-take point to 20 psi to enable Rio Verde to lower the operating pressure of the booster pump from 300 psi to 250 psi to prevent further leaks from recurring.
Data provided by Rio Verde to this paper reveals the flow rate delivered by Rio Verde to COWD ranged from 1,829 m3/hr at 1200 noon to 2,158 m3/hr by 05:00 pm Friday.
But Tesoro said while COWD confirmed receiving a flow rate of 1,802 m3/hr at the off-take point (TOP), it was not at the specified pressure. “The pressure at the TOP is zero,” Tesoro said in a text message to this writer.“There will be an improvement in lower service areas, but Palalan and Lumbia will have no water. Delivery through water tankers is still the immediate solution thereat.”
Rio Verde expects ongoing repairs works of its main submarine transmission line to COWD to be completed by Mid-October, 2017 (photo supplied)
Hapitan confirmed that they need not maintain a residual pressure since Rio Verde wanted to prioritize higher flow rate to ensure delivery of the contracted 40,00 M3/day volume.
Tesoro said they needed a residual pressure of at least 70 psi at the TOP to be able to service elevated and farthest areas. COWD has a standby in-line booster at TOP to pump water up to Lumbia area in case pressure drops to 55 psi while other elevated and farthest areas remain unserviced.
However, Hapitan said they could only provide 70 psi without their online booster at the off-take point byMonday, October 16 or in eight days when Rio Verde completes repairs and commissions back its 650mm submarine main transmission line in the Cagayan River.
Rio Verde Water Treatment Plant at Bgy Pualas, Baungon, Bukidnon
Meantime, Hapitan said Rio Verde would complete construction of a redundant 650mm back-up transmission line which can withstand a Magnitude 8 earthquake like the rehabbed main line to prevent another occurrence of the present water shortage in COWD’s West Service Area.
Hapitan said each of the two 650mm main submarine transmission lines can deliver up to 100,000 m3/day of treated bulk water to COWD, which is the present rated daily capacity of its water treatment plant in Bgy. Pualas, Baungon, Bukidnon.
Rio Verde can still expand the present plant by another 50,000 m3/day of treated bulk water to attain its designed daily capacity of 150,000 m3/day.
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