About 2,500 residents of Barangay Dewey in Bolinao town, Pangasinan now have another source of clean water after the construction of a solar-powered water system, which will also soon benefit other villages in Santiago Island.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) project engineer Sally Ignacio of Pangasinan’s 1st Engineering District Office, said the PHP9.8 million project was funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2023.

She said the water system’s tank could hold 20,000 liters of water, which gets its supply underground through a 24-panel solar-powered system.

“The residents usually get their water supply from deep wells,” she said in Filipino.

According to the local government, islanders got their water supply from a private entity before the construction of the solar-powered water system.

Ignacio said the project will initially benefit residents of Barangay Dewey but it can be extended to nearby villages at the prerogative of the local government.

“We have prepared the pipelines and the local government unit will manage the project since we have already turned it over to them,” she said.

The turnover ceremony was held on Feb. 1.

The project includes the construction of a water supply or septage, sewerage or rainwater collector, and the solar water system itself.

Works began on May 29 last year and were completed in October.

“We will have cheaper water bills because of this project,” Apple Reoligio, a resident, told the Philippine News Agency. (PNA)