Water outage, low water pressure in Laoag

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte Water District (INWD) has urged residents in Laoag City to save water and use it wisely.

“At the moment, we are faced with the problems of water outage and low water pressure, which are widely experienced in the Philippines because of the dry season,” said an INWD advisory.

In Laoag City, INWD general manager John Teodoro reported that water supply in the city has been observed to be decreasing by about 33 percent compared to previous years particularly this summer where the impact of the so-called El Niño is now being felt by farmers, drying up farmlands and waterways.

Citing the pump wells located at Barangays 29 and 27 in Laoag City, Mr. Teodoro said the water supply has decreased by 25 percent and 33 percent already since the start of the dry spell. 

He said low water supply is common during the dry months of April and May but the situation has been aggravated by voltage fluctuations and unscheduled power outage.

Also, the on-going constructions of roads has figured as one of the reasons as some of the INWD pipes are inevitably being moved while there are also corroded pipelines reported along Bonifacio street, this city.  

In view of this, the INWD assured they are working double time to resolve these problems the soonest possible time.

To bring in more water supply to Laoag City, the Vintar pump station of INWD has upgraded its pumping equipment along with the Bacarra pumping station which is in progress as of this posting.

The installation of a microfiltration plant is also being reviewed to be able to fully utilize a well at Brgy. Tangid to improve its water quality while another well at Brgy. Nangalisan is about to be commissioned once the laboratory analysis passes the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW).

An exploratory well is also being drilled at Barangay 29 and the old motor controllers are now being replaced with new ones to increase the level of tolerance of voltage fluctuations.

Mr. Teodoro also appealed to all water consumers to report immediately any leakage or any knowledge of pilferage for proper action.

Informants of pilferage cases shall be rewarded by INWD which comprise 50 percent of the collection of administrative penalty to violators.

For reports, INWD maintains the following hotlines: Commercial Department – (077) 772-0985/ +639999977656/+639178651430; General Manager - +639194693649.