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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Friday, July 19, 2013

Bicolano farmers improve on design of a DAR water supply project

By Joseph John J. Perez

LEGAZPI CITY, July 19 (PIA) – Camarines Sur farmers trained as para-engineers were able improve on the construction design of a community potable water project under the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Members of the San Francisco Fundado-Linaga-Canaman Irrigators Association (SFFLCIA) in Canaman town are beneficiaries of the Community-Managed Potable Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (CPWash) Project jointly implemented by the DAR, the Philippine Center for Water and Sanitation and the local government units

“We took time to study and observe how the facilities are working, and we noted that some of its features need further innovations to provide an improved and safe source of drinking water to our community,” SFFLCIA President Nicanor de Castro said.

De Castro led his fellow farmers who were trained as para-engineers for the project so they can innovate on the CPWash design, specifically on its iron filter and biogas facilities.

The farmers replaced the hollow blocks with PVC pipes for stronger support and prevention of bacterial growth. The new design also reduced the culvert filtration holes from 12 to 6 to minimize possibility of insects passing through the holes. Water outlets were also reduced from 12 to only one to ensure the water that overflows from the unit will not blend or mix with the filtered water.

De Castro’s group composed of 130 member-farmers is among the numerous beneficiaries of CPWash in at least 16 municipalities in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Masbate.

Like the members of SFFLCIA who were trained as para-engineers, more than 120 farmers were already trained on CPWash development and installation. They are responsible for the livelihood enterprise component of the project that is focused on setting up low-cost, culturally acceptable and appropriate water sanitation technologies that can be managed and sustained by the community, DAR-Bicol said.

“I personally consumed water from CPWash facilities and it is clear, odorless, tasteless and definitely potable,” DAR Regional Director Maria Celestina Manlagñit-Tam said. It also passed the water analysis test of the Department of Health.

DAR introduced the CPWash technology to provide agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) households access to safe drinking water.

CPWash has four water sanitation techniques – the iron removal filter and bio-sand filter as water treatment facilities; bio-gas digester septic tanks and rainwater collector. There are already 20 iron removal filters, 70 bio-sand filters, 9 rainwater collectors and 22 bio-gas digesters set up in the Bicol Region with 140 households benefiting from them, DAR Bicol said.

According to DAR-Bicol, the project involves the adoption of low cost WASH technologies which ensures easy management, replication and maintenance of the facilities by the communities themselves. Some of the materials can be generated from the existing resources and even solid waste in the community such as gravel and sand, charcoal and used cans. Estimated cost per facility is only a little over P10,000 excluding labor, DAR told PIA.

“Local government officials were so impressed with the project that they committed to allocate funding for its replication in their barangays that need potable water supply,” Tam said. About 1.1 million ARB households require upgrading from the current level 1 water system to improved quality of water and sanitation, DAR said. (MAL/JJJP-PIA5-Albay) 

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