As OpinYon Laguna revisits the pledges made by PrimeWater San Pedro, the primary water-distribution concessionaire in the city, to fix its long-standing issues regarding water supply. It has become apparent that the problems with PrimeWater may be just the tip of the iceberg on a larger problem the city has apparently ignored for decades: the (mis)management of its water resources.
Does San Pedro City, Laguna suffer from shortage of water resources – or is its water resources being abused by an unscrupulous few?
As OpinYon Laguna revisits the pledges made by PrimeWater San Pedro, the primary water-distribution concessionaire in the city, to fix its long-standing issues regarding water supply, it has become apparent that the problems of PrimeWater may be just the tip of the iceberg. The larger challenge the city has apparently ignored for decades is the (mis)management of its water resources.
Not yet 24 hours, but…
The issues of getting more water resources emerged during a recent meeting OpinYon Laguna held with PrimeWater San Pedro City Branch Manager John Paul Pascual and its other officials: for them to give an update on the pledges they made way back in October 2022 regarding complaints of lack of water supply, poor water quality and poor customer services.
Water interruption
More than 3,000 city households are PrimeWater subscribers who have experienced water interruptions lasting for hours at a time. Pascual claimed that the firm has reduced the hours of water interruptions for most of their accounts.
“Mayroon po tayong mga area kung saan nag-increase yung oras na may tubig sila, although hindi pa po talaga natin kaya na maserbisyuhan sila ng 24 hours. Ang nangyari po, yung four hours [na water service], ngayon ay 16 hours na,” the branch manager told OpinYon Laguna.
Reallocation issue
Another issue raised during the meeting is how to reallocate the water supply to the city’s “Upper Villages,” especially with the opening of the new SM Center San Pedro in United Bayanihan.
“Hindi naman po naapektuhan [ang water supply], pero naihrapan din kami kasi mayroon kaming isang source doon, siyempre yung mga subdivision na katabi ng SM, ayaw namang magpalabas ng tubig.
"But nag-meeting kami, kinausap ko sila, binigay naman natin yung rationality ng project, hindi naman nila kailangan ng maraming-maraming source dahil natatapon lang, so kailangan nating i-redistribute. Pumayag naman sila, under certain conditions,” Pascual explained.
Redistribution?
That single word Pascual used – redistribute – has, on the other hand, inadvertently raised another important question: does that mean that we actually have more water resources than what PrimeWater currently has?
While PrimeWater officials were reticent on the issue, certain statements made by Pascual seemed to confirm that fact.
“Ang problema po kasi, sabihin na natin na mayroon tayong 44 million liters per day [na potential supply], pero ang naisusupply ko lang ay 38 million liters per day. Bakit hindi natin ma-supply lahat ng mga accounts namin kung mayroon ka namang 44 million liters per day?” was how he put it before OpinYon Laguna.
Take note that in a press release issued by Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. last May, PrimeWater San Pedro has reportedly recovered 4.1 million liters a day from losses due to leakages, illegal service connections, and malfunctioning water meters. Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. is the premier holdings company of PrimeWater.
Deep well pledge
By the way, what happened to PrimeWater’s pledge last year to put up a deep well project in Barangay San Antonio?
That project, according to Pascual, has been stalled as they have yet to find a viable site to put up a deep well, especially to the barangay’s uphill subdivisions where water supply is also scarce.
“Kahit na naghahanap na po kami ng mabibiling lupa, ayaw po nilang ipagbili sa amin,” he added.
Golf course affected?
While Pascual and other PrimeWater officials did not offer an explanation on why no one will allow the construction of a deep well facility at Barangay San Antonio’s uphill enclaves, speculation has it that it could affect the supply of a private golf course situated at that barangay.
Despite branding itself as a "sustainable" facility, there is still concern among insiders that that golf course could be drawing more water than what the surrounding area can supply.
That was also an issue raised by OpinYon Laguna last July, when it opined, in the face of a looming water crisis brought by the El Niño phenomenon, that local governments in the province should check into whether private golf courses in the region cause a serious drain in their water supplies.
While there's currently no official statistics on how much water these courses consume in a single year here are some numbers that could give us an idea.
Misuse of water
According to some officials of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), that some golf courses in Metro Manila consume at least 700 to 1,400 cubic meters of water per month, while the average resident in Metro Manila consumes only 3.24 cubic meters of water a month, based on data from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Then there’s the alleged misuse of water from certain areas in San Pedro City to provide for ships – an issue that, strangely, no one in the city has batted an eye for, according to some insiders.
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