Apo Agua hopes to start supplying water to Davao City by Q1 of 2023

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 Sep) – After delays in the completion of the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP), the Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. eyed to start supplying water to Davao City Water District (DCWD) within the first quarter of 2023.

May Che Capili, external relations officer of the Apo Agua Infrastructura, told reporters during Kapehan sa Davao on Monday that the company has already expedited the completion of the facility after it took over the construction from J.V. Angeles Construction Corporation.

She said there were delays in the completion of the water supply project because of the setbacks encountered at the peak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the ongoing “internal” issues with its contractor.

The DCBWSP is a P12-billion water supply project of Apo Agua, a joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures and J.V. Angeles Construction Corporation.

Capili reiterated the company’s commitment to supplying around 300 million liters of treated water to DCWD after Dabawenyos complained of lack of water supply in several parts of the city in the previous days.

“The target delivery for the first optic point to the water district [DCWD] in Tugbok is the first quarter of 2023,” she said.

She said target supply delivery from other optic points or water reservoirs such as Calinan, Talandang, Mandug, Indagan, Cabantian, Panacan, and Dumoy is expected by the second quarter of next year.

Capili said that Mayor Sebastian Duterte told the firm to expedite the project timeline during a recent meeting with company executives.

Based on the joint venture agreement, Apo Agua will take charge of water extraction and treatment and DCWD the water distribution.

The target completion of the project was moved from 2021 to 2022 due to the pandemic but it was postponed further to 2023 due to issues with the contractor, according to Capili.

She said that the new contractors tapped to complete the construction have experience in hydropower and water treatment.

To ensure that it delivers water to DCWD within the “new” timeline, Capili said the firm’s new contractors would undertake 24/7 construction activities on the various components of the DCBWSP.

“When we started this visionary project with the Water District, we have one goal, which is to find an alternative source in conjunction with ground water sources, and we found that the more sustainable source would be the surface water that will go through a treatment process to increase the supply of water,” she said.

JC Duhaylungsod, spokesperson for DCWD, added that they are awaiting delivery of additional supply of water from Apo Agua to address the current water situation in some parts of the city.

She added that some areas would continue to experience low to no water pressure at peak hours, pending completion of the DCBWSP and delivery of additional supply to DCWD.

“We need a large amount of water supply to realize our end goal which is 24/7 water service with desired pressure that we need,” Duhaylungsod said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)