CLARK FREEPORT – With more investors expected to move into this freeport in the next years, underground water supply for them could last only up to 2023. This was revealed here by the Clark Water Corp. (CWC) which provides water supply for this freeport. CWC is a subsidiary of the Manila Water Company, Inc. (Manila Water).
Briefing members of the Capamangans in Media, Inc. (CAMI) here, CWC General Manager- COO Jess Laigo said that Clark’s aquifers or underground water sources are capable of yielding a maximum of 70,000 to 75,000 cubic meters of water per day.
Extraction of water beyond this capacity would damage the aquifers and it would take about two decades for its balance to be restored, said Manila Water corporate communications chief Jeric Sevilla, Jr. Laigo said that CWC is now seriously considering tapping surface water from channels on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo as water source for this freeport where his firm provides water to almost 2,000 firms and households.
He noted that at present, investors here already consume some 40,000 cubic meters per day. Based on the average consumption per year, the 70,000 to 75,000 cubic-meter-perday allowable extraction from Clark’s aquifers could be reached by 2023, Laigo noted.
A master plan for tapping surface water from Mt. Pinatubo channels has already been finalized so that such water could be tapped for use by investors here before 2023, he added. He cited particularly the Marimla River on the Zambales side of Mt. Pinatubo as a feasible surface water source for Clark.
CWC has already invested some P1.4 billion to upgrade the water system initially set up by the Americans in this former US Air Force facility. This, even as Laigo assured its consumers of relatively low water rates much lower than other water firms in other parts of the country, including Metro Manila, Cebu, Subic and Baguio.
Laigo said this is part of the commitment of CWC so as to help attract more investors to Clark. For commercial
firms, CWC charges only P27.25 per cubic meter as against P89.35 in Baguio and P46.67 in Metro Cebu.
“Clark Water has doubled its treatment capacity for wastewater while improving its effluent quality. Customer
satisfaction has substantially increased,” he noted. Laigo also bared plans to treat water effluents so that these could be used to water golf courses at Mimosa and Fontana resorts here.
He noted that because these two resorts were established in Clark before CWC came in, they are not included in the list of CWC consumers. The golf courses in the two resorts consume about 10,000 cubic meters of water daily, to make for the 40,000 cubic meters of total water being consumed daily in this freeport.
