Desperate times call for desperate measures. Yes, we are desperate for water supply and we don’t know who to ask for help anymore as Maynilad’s (our service provider) best remedy to our situation is to call their hotline and request for water delivery that may or may not come within 24 hours. Note that the hotline may or may not be answered.
I am not talking about a few days of water interruption. This low pressure to no water supply situation has been going on since January this year. We live in an enclave within the BF Homes subdivision. Before this, we used to get water daily, strong enough to run through the taps in our house. There would be a window during the day when there is low pressure sometimes no water, usually between 10 am to 7pm. Pressure will pick up after that and be strong enough to fill our overhead tanks through the night. Overhead tank storage is common among BF households. We switch to tank supply during those hours when our supply is interrupted. We do this every day. Our water service is interrupted every day. We have adapted and accepted this schedule. We used to complain about this but the stress has beaten us into submission. It isn’t so bad after all, we thought. At least we still get water. We are at the tail end of the pumping station, they said. If there’s heavy usage by the areas ahead of us in the pumping line, we don’t get our fair share of supply and will have to wait at night when usage isn’t as heavy. Hence the daily the interruption that evolved into a schedule that we have come to expect and stopped resisting. But our woes started January this year, when even the night time pressure wasn’t strong enough to go up our tanks much less flow through our taps. So no water during the day and very weak pressure that starts maybe at 11 pm onwards. By 6 am the next day, no water supply at all. The only source by which we can fill our tanks is if we call the Maynilad Hotline. If they do pick up, they will schedule a Maynilad tanker to come to your house in the next 24 hours. If they come in the next 24 hours is another story.
The uncertainty of our situation has been exhausting both mentally and physically. The trickle of water that Maynilad calls “water supply” in the dead hours of the night is what people use to do their laundry, wash the dishes that has piled up during the day, etc. We race against time doing all these chores as water is only available during the unholy hours of the night while trying to fill our buckets for a daytime supply – for taking a bath, washing, cleaning, etc. We are drained (pun intended) and desperate for help.
Maynilad conducted a pressure test last Feb. 9. They concluded that the problem stems from the Pasay Pumping station pumping less than the required 60 psi. Our enclave being at the end of that supply line has been getting only 3psi as opposed to the needed 7psi to efficiently facilitate our daily needs. Maynilad knows the problem yet there is no urgency in the solution. If it was a telecom provider, we could easily switch if we are dissatisfied with the service. We are stuck with Maynilad, stuck with their inefficiency, stuck with their disregard for people’s needs and their band aid solutions. Who can help us?
Racquel Abaño, BF Thai Las Piñas
Water woes
Source: News Paper Radio
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