Baguio Water District seeks additional Sources to meet growing water demand

BAGUIO CITY — The utility Baguio Water District (BWD) is actively seeking additional sources and facilities to overcome Baguio City’s growing demand for water.

BWD General Manager Salvador Royeca on Tuesday, November 26, said the city’s demand for water supply went higher after the end of the pandemic and more economic and social activities bounced back.

“Something must be done,” he said.

Baguio City’s average daily water demand is 50,000 liters, short of 5,000 liters from the 45,000 liters average water supply, BWD information officer Mark Pasagoy said. He added that the demand hikes up to 55,000 liters daily when the peak comes starting December until May.

Royeca said the BWD was able to avail of a Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) loan after the COVID-19 pandemic ended which would be used for water and supply augmentation projects. 

The water district has also been laying new pipelines reaching out to more residences so that many people of Baguio can have more access to clean and potable water.

Royeca reported that the BWD had already laid 3, 842 meters of pipeline worth more than P45 million. He added they also have proposed projects for the upgrade and upsize of existing distribution lines to address the problem of water supply during the summer season. 

The BWD had also completed more than P62 million worth of  water exploration and well-drilling projects.

Royeca said there are also ongoing projects nearing completion, explaining that they have to rush projects to completion in order not to be left behind by Baguio's continuously growing demand for water supply.