822 families to benefit from solar water system

By Cet Dematera

Some 822 families mostly victims of the super typhoon Reming that hit the province of Albay in Nov. 30, 2006 will become the beneficiaries of the water system facility to be constructed by the City Engineering Office (CEO) in Barangay Taysan.

Mayor Noel E. Rosal and other city and barangay officials led the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the solar-powered water system at the Taysan Resettlement Site recently.

Rosal said that the project would be constructed at the adjacent portion of the Kominkan building inside the resettlement site with a budget of P3.4 million allocated by the city government.

“The project includes the construction of the four-meter by three-meter power house including the installation of 12 solar panels with six batteries and putting of three horse power submersible pumps,” Rosal said.

He explained that the CEO will supervise the civil works of the project to dig as deep as 280 feet and also to install 260-meter long transmission pump line and five stand pipes to make sure all the residents of the resettlement site and other adjacent areas would benefit from sufficient supply of potable water.

Rosal said the project was realized through the request of barangay officials in order to address the water shortage encountered by the villagers particularly during summer session.

Elmera Apinado, president of the Taysan Resettlement Site Community Development Association Inc. (TRSCDAI), in a separate interview, said that she is very grateful to the city government for the construction of the water system facility as an additional source of drinking water to the villagers.

Apinado said that the resettlement site has its own source of water but not enough for daily consumption of every household, adding that the population in the area is continuously increasing.

“Presently, we are only depending on the existing water system and deep well constructed by TRSCDAI. But once the solar panel water system facility becomes operational, surely we can have our own source of free potable water,” Apinado said.