• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The investment of the Bacolod Bulk Water Inc. (BBWI) to ensure drinkable water for Bacolodnons already reached P2 billion, including the fully-automated Sum-ag Water Treatment Plant in the 2.5-hectare property in Barangay Abo-Abo, Murcia town.
BBWI chief operations officer Mark Roxas said May 8 the Sum-Ag water treatment plant, which has just completed its commissioning, is phase 2 of their bulk water project, and is the only fully automated surface treatment plant in the Visayas.
This substantial investment is focused on sustainability and environmental capacity to source from surface water as opposed to deep wells, Roxas stressed in a press conference yesterday afternoon, adding the Sum-Ag plant can produce up to 25 million liters per day (MLD) of potable water and serve around 25,000 households in Bacolod.
With 36 online instruments monitoring water quality every second, phase 2 is a major upgrade from BBWI’s Ngalan Water Treatment Plant in Barangay Granada, Bacolod, that has been providing an average of 15MLD since 2017, the company said.
“This is a major step forward from where we started, a major milestone in BBWI’s continuing commitment to provide 24/7 clean, reliable water to the people of Bacolod,” it added.
Roxas said their contract with the Bacolod City Water District-PrimeWater is to provide 10MLD, with a blended price of about P10 per cubic meter.
He added that the company, a subsidiary of Tubig Pilipinas Group Inc., also started the construction of phase 3, or the expansion of their bulk water project, with Caliban River as source.
A four-kilometer pipeline will access water from the Caliban River and BBWI expects to boost its total dependable capacity to 40 to 50MLD by July, Roxas said.
“We saw the need and we acted. Bacolod needs more water, and we are doing everything we can to make sure nga may ara sang igo, limpyo, kag masaligan nga suplay sang tubig (that there’s adequate, clean, and reliable supply of water),” he stressed, adding the BBWI continues to invest in water security to ensure that Bacolod is ready for the future. | CGC
