Residents in Sagada, Mountain Province are reusing water as a conservation measure as they look into long-term solutions to mitigate the effects of the dry spell.
“We are feeling the effects of the heat, with water from our spring sources decreasing. We have asked our residents to save and reuse water so that we do not exhaust our sources,” Mayor Felicito Dula said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
He said residents are using water used from washing clothes to water their plants or flush their toilets.
Residents source their water from natural springs, through pipes connected to the houses.
Sagada is a popular tourist destination in northern Luzon, with most of the houses being used as homestays and inns, to augment the capacity of the hotels.
Dula noted that with decreasing water supply, some accommodation establishments have resorted to temporarily close while they fill their water containment units.
“About 30 percent of the establishments have been closing for a few days if they do not have guests so that they can fill up their tanks, ensuring water supply as soon as they accept guests,” he said in Ilocano.
The city chief also said establishments and some residences have tapped water delivery services, which are, however, difficult to access due to long list of clients and expensive rates, at PHP100 for a standard-sized drum.
Water delivery services in Sagada source their supply from other towns, thus, the high cost of water they provide.
As a long-term solution, Dula said he is trying to access national government agencies that can help his town establish huge water containment facilities during the rainy season for use during the dry season.
“I think we already need to look at those options. We also need to continuously save water and place overflowing water in the containment facilities when they are not in use to avoid wasting the resource,” he said.
Dula added that owners of accommodation establishments have been asked to install rain-harvesting facilities as a long-term water-saving measure. (PNA)
