Former barangay kagawads Jose Canlas and Gerardo Aguas informed Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda at her office at the Provincial Capitol here last Monday that whenever TIPCo operates its water-cooling system for its coal-fired power plant, all their water pumps in the village dry up.
“TIPCo has 13 water pumps and whenever they turned them on the village water pumps dry-up and water flows again whenever they turned them off,” said Canlas in the vernacular.
Aguas said they even tried to install a jetmatic with 180 feet deep pipe but it only worked for two days before it finally dried up.
Canlas said they have already informed TIPCo officials who denied that the paper mill is responsible for their dried-up aquifers.
Both kagawads said Board Member Cris Garbo is the one helping them in their dilemma.
Canlas said as a remedy, TIPCo regularly sends its fire truck to the barangay which provides them potable water.
But he lamented that whenever it rains, the roadleading to the village is rendered impassable and thus no water delivery is made because the fire truck cannot pass.
According to Garbo, the solution is to embed 60 pieces of water pipes, with each measuring 20 feet in length or a total of 1,200 feet, to reach the groundwater aquifer and overshoot TIPCo’s water level source.
“We need to install 60 water pipes of 20 feet each to reach the groundwater,” Garbo said.
But Engr. Rannie Arceo, TIPCo Community Relations Officer, said the issue has already been explained to the village folk.
He said there was a sangguniang bayan hearing about two months ago where it was explained that the level for the groundwater of the residents is not the same as that of TIPCo.
The residents use shallow pumps or about 60 feet deep for their water supply while TIPCo has installed deep well pumps embedded hundreds of meters underground, Arceo said.
It is also a fact that volcanic materials as well as lahar from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 have been deposited on the village making it far more difficult to reach the aquifer, he said.
“But why only them (referring to Sapang Balen residents)?” asked Arceo. He said other barangays adjacent to TIPCo like barangays Bundagul and Paralayunan don’t experience the same problem.
Meanwhile, an ocular inspection was conducted last week led by Vice Mayor Christian Halili and the city council as well as the City Engineering and Health Office upon the instruction of Gov. Pineda.
Councilor Rox Peña said they are just waiting for the report of the city engineers who are conducting a study on the water shortage issue in the village.
Peña said initially, the city council is looking into putting up a jetmatic in the village to solve the water shortage.
