The document summarizes the 2019 Manila water crisis. It discusses how over 200 barangays experienced severe water shortages for weeks as demand outpaced supply. The crisis was exacerbated by delays to infrastructure projects like the Kaliwa Dam, which faced opposition. It also notes criticisms of Manila Water and calls for improved management of water resources and infrastructure to prevent future crises. Education is seen as key to promoting water conservation and ensuring access to clean water for all.
The document summarizes the 2019 Manila water crisis. It discusses how over 200 barangays experienced severe water shortages for weeks as demand outpaced supply. The crisis was exacerbated by delays to infrastructure projects like the Kaliwa Dam, which faced opposition. It also notes criticisms of Manila Water and calls for improved management of water resources and infrastructure to prevent future crises. Education is seen as key to promoting water conservation and ensuring access to clean water for all.
The document summarizes the 2019 Manila water crisis. It discusses how over 200 barangays experienced severe water shortages for weeks as demand outpaced supply. The crisis was exacerbated by delays to infrastructure projects like the Kaliwa Dam, which faced opposition. It also notes criticisms of Manila Water and calls for improved management of water resources and infrastructure to prevent future crises. Education is seen as key to promoting water conservation and ensuring access to clean water for all.
CE-4206 The crisis due to water shortage is alarming 200 or so barangays in Metro Manila in the past few weeks. Residents are outside water stations piling up their empty pails and basins in hope for a temporary relief in the midst of the water insufficiency. It is easy to put the blame in the effects of El Niño because it rarely rain these days, enabling the lack of emergency water to fill up La Mesa Dam which the Manila Water uses. But Manila Water officials clarified that the dry season is not the problem, instead, the proportion of supply and demand. Supposedly, Manila wont experience this kind of crisis if water infrastructure projects are not delayed. For example, Kaliwa Dam should be able to supply 600 million liters per day in Metro Manila but it was opposed by many environmentalists and the catholic church for its negative effect. One solution proposed by the authorities is that Manila Water would share supply of water from Maynilad. As a measure , it is advisable for the people to conserve water until the rainy season. Zobel de Ayala, Jaime Augosto and Fernando, owners of Ayala Corporation, the parent company of Manila Water, issued a statement to its customers taking responsibility of the water crisis in Manila. Relative to that, they have waved full bill for March 2019, for those leaving in severely affected barangays. It is really unimaginable that water shortage happens in the Philippines knowing that we are an archipelago which means that we are very much surrounded by vast bodies of waters. Based on the news, people panic when they receive advisories regarding insufficiency of water that will last for hours leading to unexpected increase in demand of water supply that causes water sources to deplete faster than expected. Normally, people won’t behave that way since the water interruption will only last for a couple of hours per day. But since they have past experiences of water shortages lasting for days without water flowing through their faucets and their tanks being empty, they expected that the same thing will happen, so they will try to anticipate it by filling up containers of emergency water. This does not only affect the initial cities included in the advisory but also those cities that are not mentioned. On the other hand, government projects for water infrastructures are being delayed for decades due to the opposition of different sectors which includes environmental, church and indigenous groups. They argued that building the dam will have adverse effects in the environment as well as to the people living near the site. Although they have a point, the government won’t just build the dam without any plan. As a civil engineering student, we are taught to consider the environment and socio-economic aspects by undertaking feasibility studies to assess the effects of the project to those mentioned above. With that in mind, the government will compensate the people and will be relocated to much safer areas. In my perspective, the government is really having a difficult time dealing with the opposition but doesn’t those people in the opposition think that even if they might be affected, the dam is really crucial to maintain stability in the metro and nearby provinces. Water is a basic necessity and its absence will impede growth of the nation. If building the dam won’t be possible, it is necessary for the government and private sectors to explore other sources of water. For example, United States’ nuclear submarines are able to stay underwater for months due to food limitations but in terms of water, they are able to treat seawater to a potable water to its crew. Some countries in the Middle East use the Aral sea as their source of water. So why is it not possible in the Philippines to do the same? As mentioned earlier, Philippines is an archipelago, surrounded by vast bodies of water, which means that there are lots of water resources waiting to be used. Bottom line, we are now living in a technologically-driven era and I think Philippines is lagging behind.The households are not the only one affected, but also bussiness, establishments and services. The severity of the crisis has led the public hospitals to turn away patients with less urgent needs. Bussiness, on the other hand, already reduced its water demand by closing some restrooms and shuting off aesthetic devices that consumes large amount of water such as swimming pools and fountains. These results to loss in revenue. This also leads to poorer services offered by these establishments. Poor sanitation and hygiene is also rampant. To think not being able to take a bath for days during dry season, when the sun is scorching hot, is a struggle that is not to disregard or belittle. Since Philippines is a tropical country and it’s summer with no water to spare, it is very dangerous especifically to the elderly and children, considering their health. Risks such as heat stroke, is a possible impact of this crisis. What came to my mind is the problem might be the composition of the board in Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). Senator Joel Villanueva states that MWSS is incompetent mainly due to the composition of its board. He questioned the limited presence of engineers and experts to be able to determine the real situation of the problem, I think one must have background of subjects related to water resources. This will enable them to formulate long term solutions based on the date interpreted by the experts and not by politicians. One must note that managing water resources of the country is not merely a guessing game. This must be taken seriously to avoid mismanagement and not as a form of fragrance in their names. As a solution, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that 600,000 million liters of waters to be released from Angat Dam which is good for 150 days to boost supplies. Although it might be a good solution, MWSS is bottlenecked by infrastructures limiting them from procurring 4,000 million liters daily from Angat Dam. On the other hand, San Miguel Corporation offered 140 million liters daily from its Bulacan Treatment Plant. Although it may sound as a good solution, it will require 14,000 trips a day using 10 kiloliter tanks. There has been a speculation that the Manila water crisis is an “artificial” problem. A certain Myles Jamito stated there is a bypass system that is closed due to unknown reasons but opening it will dissolve the problem almost instantaneously. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo also discussed the possibility of the water shortage may be artificial. If reports that the Angat Dam level is not critical, Panelo said that this could be just inefficiency and mismanagement. I’m sorry, what? “Just inefficiency” is not a phrase to use for something this serious. Those water concessionaires must follow what they have been asked to do by the law: to implement proper operation and maintenance of waterworks system to insure an uninterrupted and adequate supply and distribution of potable water, as stated in section 1 of Republic Act No. 6234. Government is not a place to be incompetent. There are also some rumors that the government created the artificial crisis for them to be able to rush the Kaliwa dam project. This does not make sense to me but it could be a possibility. Some people blame the privatization as the underlying reason to the crisis. Government has the biggest accountability for ensuring water to people and privatization removes the effective state control over the water resources. In addition, private concessionaires are also accused of not improving their infrastructures to maximize the existing water supply considering that they executed may service fee hikes in the past. As we know there are millions of people who don’t have access to clean drinking water. People from poor countries spent almost their entire day just to search for a clean potable water. They don’t always have a choice so they take what is readily available even though the water might be infected of full of bacteria. That it is easy for those people to get sick. Little to no water means poor sanitation and hygiene, not enough crops to produce foods resulting to less stable country. We were blessed that we are surrounded by immense bodies of water because we don’t have to live our lives searching for water and getting sick. Many of our fellow have never really learned how water is so much important for us. They take it for granted, they waste it and think that water supply is indefinite which is not true. Not because we see a lot of water does not mean that we should use it inappropriately. There is no specific person to blame about this crisis. All of us is responsible for the mismanagement and improper use of our resource. To solve this, education is really crucial. Yes we do know the water cycle, we know that water is a basic need but education does not end in just understanding the concept of water. One must learn to respect and value it not by just conserving it. As an engineering student, we are thought of different concepts related to managing our water, how it behave, and how we could possibly use our knowledge to create viable solution or prevention for future crises. Engineers are not the only one who should participate, but also all people in the community especially women. This is a shared challenge and they key to drive community awareness and action is the collective effort of every individual. Building dams may be a viable solution as of now as we face this crisis. Although many people will get affected, this will contribute to the growth and stability of our nation. Since it is projected to be finished by 2025, for now, we must cut our water demand this summer. Maybe for the authorities of Manila water, and different cooperatives managing water supplies, it is crucial for them to minimize loss due to leaking.
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