Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc. pushed back the start of operation of the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP) of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) due to external factors.
The “first drop of water” from the much-anticipated DCWD’s bulk water supply was expected in the first quarter of this year but is now moved to April 2023.
In her presentation before the City Council on Tuesday, Anna Victoria Lu, president of Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc, showed the updates and factors that affected the project’s timeline of operations and among them is the poor weather conditions.
She said leaks were encountered during the flushing. There were damaged pipelines where leaks were discovered during the flushing activities due to the buried pipeline in Los Amigos that was punctured, most likely by a fiber-optics contractor, requiring additional time for rectification.
She said because of this, flushing activities had to be restarted.
She mentioned that there are extraordinary raw water conditions due to back-to-back heavy flash floods in the Tamugan River that prevented Apo Agua from filling up the reservoir and conducting final flushing and disinfection activities of the Treated Water Pipeline.
Lu explained that highly turbid water cannot be accepted into the system to protect the filtration and water distribution system.
She said more flushing and disinfection activities are required as additional debris, sediments, and dirt were found in the pipeline that requires more time and higher pressure to flush out, to ensure effective disinfection.
Meanwhile, Lu also presented the progress of the construction of the project.
For civil works, water treatment plant facilities critical for partial operations are tested and commissioned and the installation of the three remaining segments of pipelines in the Davao River Bridge crossing is successful.
The supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system needed for the full automation of operations functionality test is ongoing.
The chemical and microbiology laboratory is completed and audited by the Department of Health (DOH) for accreditation.
The preparation of hydro testing of pipelines to DCWD’s off-take points (OTPs) in Dumoy, Mandug, Cabantian, Indangan, and Panacan is also ongoing.
Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc. is taking the lead role in the construction of DCBWSP which will provide 300 million liters of safe water daily to over one million Dabawenyos.
The DCBWSP is the first of its kind in the country. It is designed to follow the water-energy nexus concept, where renewable energy will be generated through an integrated hydroelectric power plant. With this state-of-the-art landmark project, Davao City will now have access to both surface water from the Tamugan River, and its current ground well sources.
