(by JENEVER O. AQUINO, Silay City Water District, Silay City, Negros Occidental)
On March 30, 2020, Negros Occidental was placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). A portion of the NHA Yolanda Resettlement Site located in Brgy. E. Lopez, Silay City was designated as the City’s quarantine facility but it had limited access to safe potable water. Thus, on the same day, Silay City Water District, through their Operations Division Manager, Engr. RODNEY L. NABALONA, commenced the installation of new service connections of 500 beneficiaries or equivalent to 2,500 individuals. Likewise, the operation of the Pumping Station was also begun.
The ECQ resulted in a significant increase in the water demand and consumption per household in Silay City. Engr. Nabalona’s team readily instituted actions to address the concerns on low water pressure in some areas of the City. In fact, they went out of their way to deliver FREE WATER from morning to evening, seven days a week to different households affected with water shortage. They did all these notwithstanding the risks at that time, despite observing proper health protocols.
As more people stayed indoors during the community quarantine, the need for potable water continued to increase. On April 22, 2020 while ECQ was still in effect, Engr. Nabalona and his team started working straight until midnight in order to upgrade and increase the pump capacity of one of the biggest Pumping Stations of SICIWA (Burgos P.S). On July 01, 2020, even as the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the Province exponentially increased, the upgrading of the Pumping Station (SFVR P.S.) was conducted. These initiatives resulted in the increase of water supplied to the concessionaires from 70m3 to 100 m3 / hr and from 50m3 to 90m3/hr respectively.
Engr. Nabalona decided to install a service line to all 596 housing units in the resettlement site to provide ready and available water supply to the units and the quarantine facility once OFWs and LSIs start coming home. Finally, after 12 days of working day and night, the installation was successfully completed, way ahead the deadline set by the Local Government of Silay and the Province of Negros Occidental.
Engr. Nabalona’s consistent demonstration of outstanding leadership enabled his team to adopt approaches that make the most of their individual skills, knowledge and expertise for the best interests of the water district and the community as a whole.
At the dawn of the community transmission of COVID-19, people were constrained to remain indoors. Water became a very, very precious commodity. For the homes in Silay City, Negros Occidental covered by SICIWA, water continues to flow from their faucets. But not many understand that the constant water supply was made possible not by accident but by careful planning, collaborative leadership, commitment and dedicated SERVICE of the men and women of the Water Districts all over the country. Being at the forefront of the pandemic, serving the community despite the risks, water district personnel are considered frontliners, too. Indeed, water is a precious resource and a life saving grace. Afterall, water is life.
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| Daily provision of Free Water to affected households during the ECQ |
Installation of waterline connection to 200 housing units for the proposed Quarantine facility of the Province of Negros Occidental located at NHA Yolanda Resettlement Site at Brgy. E. Lopez in Silay City
Engr. Nabalona's team installing service connections and Pumping Station of SICIWA
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