ANGELES CITY – A city councilor here wants the franchise of the Angeles City Water District (ACWD) reviewed by Congress, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) and the local government unit in the light of numerous complaints against the utility firm.
Councilor Jesus “Jay” Sangil, the sangguniang panlungsod minority floorleader, said he received numerous complaints of “smelly and discoloration” of water from residents in Barangay Cutud here.
This developed even as ACWD general manager Rey Liwanag said they are ready for the bidding of the upgrade of the water filtration facility in the area within this month which will be completed in April.
But Sangil said more than 3,500 household with close to 40,000 residents are affected by the water problem.
“Marami nang issues against the ACWD and it seems that the management is used in delaying its action on the problem taking them years to address,” he noted.
“Hundreds of children are complaining of skin diseases,” he added.
Sangil, accompanied by barangay councilmen, verified the report during a visit at the Northville resettlement here over the weekend.
During a meeting in Barangay Cutud, Sangil assured the barangay officials headed by Barangay Captain Jun Ferraris as well as residents in the area of immediate action on the plight of the Northville residents.
The residents told Sangil of the so called, “Oh promise me… three months” allegedly made by ACWD officials to solve the problem but after almost 10 years, the problem only got worse.
Sangil said 80 percent of the residents get their drinking water from the faucet by boiling it since only about 20 perent can afford to buy purifi ed water.
“Lahat ng puting damit dito sa amin ay halos nagkulay kalawang na… pati nga pagligo namin kahit mag sabon pa kami may amoy pa rin (All the white clothes in our neighborhood are now rust colored. Even the water we use for bathing is still smelly even if we use soap),” the residents complained.
“May putik na, naglulumot pa (It is muddy and even with algae),” they lamented.
Last year, Sangil also raised an issue of water shortage problem affecting barangays Margot and Sapangbato involving the ACWD.
Meanwhile, Liwanag said the area southeast of the Abacan River leading to Magalang town is a problem area because of the high presence of iron and manganese.
Liwanag said they are now in the process of bidding for the water filtration project within this month.
He said the project is expected to be completed in April.
He said, “the presence of iron and manganese turns the water into a brownish color but as to taste, odor and color this should be corrected so that it can pass the Philippine national standard for drinking water.”
Liwanag said because of the problem, the ACWD commissioned geologists to make a study on the area and it was determined that t that the area is a red zone.
But as of the moment, Liwanag said, the ACWD has a filtration plant in the area. However, the increasing number of concessionaires has made it imperative to upgrade it, he added.
Liwanag also said a new filtration technology would also be implement- ed in the said area which is already being used in another pumping station.
