Upland barangay in Dasol gets access to water
DASOL—A pioneering water system project is now providing steady fresh water supply to an upland barangay here of 400 households with about 1,600 residents.
Barangay Uli, located some 10 kilometers from the center of this remote town in western Pangasinan, is among the beneficiaries of the Uli Ram Rump Project, an environmental program that will install 100 ram pumps by 2013 nationwide.
The Uli Ram Pump Project utilizes ram pumps, which harness the natural kinetic energy of water flowing from a river near the locality to push the water through a pipe and into a ferro-cement storage tank within the community.
A two-kilometer piping system delivers the water from a spring water source to Uli where 11 communal water taps have been installed.
The project is initiated by citizens’ groups La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), Earth Day Network Philippines, Inc. (EDNPI), and Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) in partnership with Coca Cola Foundation – Philippines and the Dasol local government unit.
Construction work started last February and the system was formally turned over on August 27 to Uli’s barangay council and residents for their own management and maintenance.
“Each of the two ram pumps used in this project has a generation capacity of about 54,700 liters of water daily to amply supply the needs of some 1,600 residents of the barangay,” said La Liga managing director Roland Cabigas during the turnover ceremony.
Dasol Mayor Noel Nacar said Uli’s residents, who for decades only sourced salty water, can now enjoy fresh water supply.
The municipal government, for its part, committed funds to finance reforestation and watershed development around the ram pump area to ensure sustainable water supply and improve the town’s biodiversity.
Present during the turn-over ceremony were EDNPI representatives Roberto Guevarra and Binggirl Clemente, La Liga deputy director Rachel Morala, and Uli residents led by Barangay chairman Edgar Rivera.
Coca Cola Foundation’s sponsorship of the project is part of the observance of the company’s 100th founding anniversary in the Philippines. –Eva Visperas
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