[ Manila Bulletin Online ] July 26, 2008
By PHOEBE JEN INDINO
CEBU CITY – The Forest Management Service of the Region 7 office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (FMS-DENR) urged all owners of buildings in the region to install rain collector equipment to prevent the shortage of potable water supply in the coming years.
Isabelo Montejo, FMS-DENR 7 regional technical director, in a recent interview, said that the rain collector facility will enable the building owners to store the rain water which can be used for various purposes.
"There are already local ordinances regarding the necessity of installing rain collector in each building, but some local government units (LGU) in the region are not strict in implementing it," Montejo said.
Montejo also said that so far the region has enough supply of water because of the onset of the rainy season.
However, he said that due to seawater intrusion, the underground sources of potable water in Cebu are depleting.
"Cebu, being highly commercialized, may face shortage of potable water supply since its population is increasing, although this problem can be addressed if a rain collector facility will be established in each building," he said.
He said that if the city government of Cebu can strike a deal with the municipalities of Carmen and Badian, where there is an ample supply of water, then the water supply in the city will be more than enough.
Meanwhile, Montejo said that other provinces in the region are not having problems regarding the availability of potable water because they have big dams that store both rain and surface water.
Meanwhile, a Cebu-grown water technology provider is capitalizing on the onset of the rainy season by developing a technology that utilizes rain water as an alternative source of water supply.
Mactan Rock Industries Inc. (MRI) has introduced to Cebu the Rain Water Utilization technology that converts rain water catchment into potable water.
