Providing Water for Life

One of man’s basic need is water. Every community’s concern is to have a steady supply of clean, potable water in their area.

Vigan is composed of 30 rural and 9 Poblacion barangays. Residents from these areas access their water needs from two sources. Those living in the Poblacion area are supplied by the Metro Vigan Water District (MVWD) while those living in rural communities resort to open or shallow tube wells in their backyard. It is clear that the rural folks do not have access to safe drinking water. However, residents of the Poblacion area also complain of inadequate water supply due to low water pressure during peak hours.

The Vigan Potable Water Supply for Peripheral barangays and the Integrated Water Supply and Management Project (Vigan PWS) was created to address the needs of the Bigueños of a safe, potable, constant supply of water.

The Vigan PWS project aims to address two things: one, to provide infrastructure support for the efficient delivery of water supply to the rural barangays not covered by the MVWD through the laying of water distribution pipeline network and two, to ensure the sustainability of the project by organizing Barangay Water Councils that will be responsible for the continuity of the project.

INTEGRATED WATER SUPPLY AND MANAGEMENT PROJECT

It is expected that there will be an increase in demand for water supply due to the new networks set in place, thus the Integrated Water Supply and Management Project was formed. It will have four components:
1. Provide for a new transmission line complement to the existing one
2. Provision of new pumps for the water source including an electric generator to ensure continuous service
3. Construction of a new water reservoir as support to the existing one
4. Repair damaged old distribution lines within the Poblacion area.

SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH SOCIAL PREPARATION

Many infrastructure projects deteriorate or become neglected overtime. Most people depend on the government to sustain projects such as this one. Unfortunately, project sustainability is not a major agenda of the government. Thus, the citizens themselves should be vigilant in sustaining the function and usability of these projects. To address this issue, Barangay Water Councils have been organized. These councils are responsible in formulating strategies and policies to ensure distribution of potable water to residents and to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of the water fountains. The Vigan PWS Project contributes to poverty reduction, good governance and concern for the environment by encouraging the people’s participation in the maintenance of the project.