Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Water is an essential resource for one’s survival. It provides the Earth the capacity of
supporting life and without it, living organisms could not exist. People need water for various
domestic purposes like drinking, cooking, sanitation, and irrigation. On July of 2010, the United
Nations General Assembly recognized the right of every human to have access to sufficient
water for personal and domestic uses, which must be safe, affordable and easily accessible
(UNDP 2010).

According to Encyclopedia Britannica (2018), the water supply system is an

infrastructure for the collection, transmission, treatment, storage, and distribution of water for
homes, commercial establishments, industry, and irrigation, as well as for such public needs as
firefighting and street flushing.

Figure 1. Water Supply System Diagram

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 Water supply is perhaps the most important and basic need that has to be provided with
reliability, sustainability and affordability unfortunately in many countries water is scarce or
contaminated. Sufficient water supply and good sanitation should come together to guarantee
great well-being. Thus, it is not only the availability of water that guarantees good life but it is
also its quality. A safe and continuous supply of water is essential to every people in the world,
unfortunately not everybody have the access to such supply. The combination of poor
accessibility to water supply and basic sanitation is negatively impacting the health and well-
being of the people.

The problem of water scarcity has become a serious matter in the world and has required
a significant attention. This shortage of water forced people to use unsafe water for drinking and
other domestic uses.

An inadequate water supply prevents good sanitation and hygiene. Lack of water can
likewise lead indirectly to disease via malnutrition. A person’s well-being is highly dependent on
both the quality and the availability of water, and on how well this resource is managed.
Contaminated water causes a range of diseases which are often life-threatening.

Aside from the problem towards achieving good sanitation from the supply of water,
insufficient water supply is one of the common crisis most of the rural communities are facing
these days. The issue of water shortage has turned into a serious issue around the globe and has
required a significant attention. Maintaining a continuous or uninterrupted supply of water for
the demands is a major challenge to many countries because of the following conditions:
droughts, population growth, growing demands that exceeded the yield, other communities
drawing water from the same supply sources, lack of water meters and leakage on the pipe
distribution system.

In developing countries like the Philippines, people who are especially those in rural
areas are still suffering from lack of access to water supply. This is the situation in Barangay
Palinpinon of the town of Valencia in the Province of Negros Oriental. Locals raised their
concern when water supply does not reach their household in any time of the day. On the 29th of
November 2017, the researchers first visited the site and discovered the problem of water
scarcity in the said area. Some of the residents reported that the water flows only during late

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nights when most of the residents are already sleeping. This might be because at that time, the
demand of water decreases compared to during daytime.

In order to know if the occurring problem is still ongoing in the affected area, the
researchers went again to further inspect the site on the 22nd and 27th of December 2017 and find
out that the same case is still happening to the community. And lastly on January 7, 2018, the
final visit the researchers made to the area concluded that the problem regarding to the water
supply in Barangay Palinpinon is still happening and might as well continue for a long period of
time if not given an immediate action.

Figure 2. Faucet turned on but no water is flowing

The researchers narrowed down some possible reasons as to why the existing problem
occurs and also to look for the appropriate solution for these problems.

One of the possible causes for the deficient supply of water is the drought. A drought
according to Lenntech (1998) can be defined as a prolonged period of unusually dry weather in
an area where some rain might normally be expected. Droughts involve water shortages, crop
damage, steam flow reduction and depletion of groundwater. When drought strikes an area, there
is usually no rain for a long period of time. This makes rivers and other water sources such as

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streams, ponds, etc. dry up. People therefore do not have enough water for domestic and
industrial use. Based on the further investigation conducted by the researchers, it did not suggest
that the drought could be the reason for the deficient water supply in Barangay Palinpinon.

One of the potential reasons the researchers also came up with is the population growth
which is a major contributor to water scarcity. As the world’s population grows, the demand for
water mounts and pressure on limited water resources intensifies. This could possibly be one of
the reasons why the area is experiencing insufficient supply of water. Furthermore, the
researchers inspected and found out that the other barangay is drawing water from the same
supply sources as the affected community. This leads the researchers to assume that this is the
cause of the water shortage in Barangay Palinpinon.

Upon ocular inspection on the area, the researchers found out that some of the pipes were
destroyed due to the typhoon especially last October 2017 which was typhoon Paolo. Leakage
along the pipe is also visible. In distribution systems, it is a major problem for water supply
throughout the world. Pipe leakage in the water supply system causes water wasting. Leaks
waste both money and natural resource, and they create a public health risk. During the site
investigation, the researchers observed that the water pipes in the area are mostly leaking and this
could also be a possible reason for the aforementioned problem. However, the pipe leakage is not
the main problem. Upon further investigation, the researchers found out that the source of the
water supply is relative to the on-going crisis.

Figure 3 Pipes leakage in Barangay Palinpinon

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 Figure 4 Leakage in pipe junction

Ul-og spring source is the main source of water that supplies the barangay of Palinpinon,
Valencia, Negros Oriental. It consists of three spring sources having an average discharge of
4.40 lps or 380.16 m3/day. It is 955 meters above mean sea level (AMSL). This spring source is
located in Barangay Sagbang, Valencia, a barangay on the western side next to Barangay
Palinpinon. The main problem is that the water coming from this source is not sufficient enough
to sustain the entire barangay. The water consumption of the said barangay is 433,000 liters per
day (lpd) which is greater than compared to the amount of water coming from the source (see
Appendix A for computation).

Due to the insufficient supply of water, some residents in Barangay Palinpinon are
fetching water from Ocoy River for their daily water needs such as laundry and bathing with the
exception of drinking and cooking. It is due to the fact that the water from this river is not safe
for intake consumption.

The researchers aim to find a solution to the problem of Barangay Palinpinon with
regards to their insufficient source of water supply. In order to address this current predicament,
the researchers will have to find an alternative source of water that will replenish the inadequacy
of the existing spring source.

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 In return to the problem relating to pipe leakage, a possible way to minimize public
health risk and economic loss and to conserve water, utilities shall regularly conduct leak-
detection surveys. A good approach is to lay pipelines deep enough to avoid exposure to
flooding, erosion and bush burning damages. Leak management methods can prevent or reduce
leakage volume and can improve the ability of water utilities to respond quickly and repair leaks
(USEPA, 2009; Thomson and Wang, 2009).

One of the suggested solution is the rainwater harvesting. Rainwater would be an

immediate resource to augment the existing water supply systems by catching water wherever it
falls. Rainwater can be utilized as an important source of water supply in areas where rain is well
distributed throughout the year and where surface and groundwater are scarce. Rainwater
harvesting can be defined as the process of collecting and storing rainwater in a scientific and
controlled manner for future use. The rainwater can be collected from roofs of buildings, houses,
and other catchments from which it can be channeled to a cistern or storage tank. A cistern is a
watertight tank where the rainwater is stored. However, if the rain will wash air pollutants, dust,
dirt, bird and animal droppings, leaves, paint, and other material from a catchment area to its
storage area, hence special provisions should be made to bypass the first 5 to 10 minutes of
rainwater and to filter the collected water.

Another potential solution is to find another source for water supply considering the
affected area is sharing with other community for the water source. There are two types of water
sources- surface water and groundwater. A surface water sources include lakes, rivers, streams
and ponds. These are the types that are open to the environment and possibly be contaminated by
human and animal activity and the quality of the water may change significantly with the
weather (storms or heavy rain), therefore untreated surface water is not safe for drinking.
Treatment for this type is quite expensive and must require constant monitoring and
maintenance.

Since the distance between Barangay Palinpinon and the Banica River is approximately
1.5 kilometers (km), the said river could be a potential source of water supply. Despite of the
high cost requirement for the proposed solution, the researchers however suggested this as a
possible approach to the inadequacy water supply in the affected area.

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 Aside from the surface water source, a groundwater source is a good approach to the on-
going problem. Compared to the surface water, groundwater is found beneath the ground surface,
protected from contamination. The investigated area is currently taking its source of supply from
a groundwater and one recommended solution is to find another groundwater source. A good
example of a groundwater source is the spring. According to Rural Water Supply Manual (2012),
springs are outcrops of groundwater that often appear as small water holes or wet spots at the
foot of hills or along river banks. To obtain suitable water, it is necessary to find the source,
properly develop it, eliminate surface water intrusion, and prevent animals from gaining access
to the spring to obtain the full benefits of its flow.

Apart from spring, one example of a groundwater source is a well. A well is a hole which
has been dug, bored, driven or drilled beneath the ground for the purpose of extracting ground
water. There are three types of well- shallow, deep and artesian well.

A shallow well is a well that is less than 20 meters deep. Shallow wells tap the upper
water-bearing layer underground. This permeable layer, however, usually has limited safe yield
due to its great dependence on seasonal rainfalls. Therefore, the supply capacity of shallow wells
could be unreliable and sometimes intermittent. Also, the water extracted from the upper strata is
usually more affected by contamination since the aquifer being tapped is near the ground surface
where possible sources of contamination abound. Protection against contamination is therefore
one of the main considerations in constructing a shallow well (Rural Water Supply Manual
2012).

Deep wells, which are over 20 meters deep, tap the deeper unconfined aquifer. This
aquifer is not confined by an overlying impermeable layer and is characterized by the presence
of a water table. A deep well is less susceptible to surface contamination because of the deeper
aquifer. Also, its yield tends to be more reliable since it is less affected by seasonal precipitation
(Rural Water Supply Manual 2012).

Artesian wells are much like the deep wells except that the water extracted is from a
confined aquifer. The confining impermeable layers are above and below the aquifer.
Groundwater recharge enters the aquifer through permeable layers at high elevations causing the
confined groundwater at the lower elevations to be under pressure. In some cases, the hydraulic

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pressure of the aquifer is sufficient for a well to flow freely at the well head (Rural Water Supply
Manual 2012).

The study aims to identify the causes of the on-going crisis in Barangay Palipinon in
which the said area is experiencing an insufficient supply of water and only limits its scope to
recommend a possible solution to the aforementioned problem.

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 Chapter 2

THE STUDY AREA

The study area is located in Barangay Palinpinon. It is one of the twenty-four (24)
barangays in the town of Valencia, Negros Oriental. It has a land area of 418.17 hectares.
According to May 2017 census, the barangay has 433 households. It is consisted of 6 puroks
namely; Iba, Mangga, Calamansi, Bayabas, Chico and Caimito. Rivers such as Banica and Ocoy
River can be found passing along Barangay Palinpinon. The main source of their water supply is
the Ul-og spring water source.

This Site

Figure 2. Map of Valencia, Negros Oriental

Figure 1. Map of Barangay Palinpinon, Valencia, Negros Oriental

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 Chapter 3

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In the study conducted by Danilo C. Israel entitled, “An Assessment of the Local Service
Delivery of Potable Water in Dumaguete City and Selected Areas of Agusan del Sur Province”,
he stated that the study conducted by Magtibay in 2004 indicated that a portion of the population
of the Philippines had shifted its preference from traditional to alternative sources of drinking
water such as water refilling stations. Other studies (Greenpeace 2007, World Bank 2005a)
stated that 1 out of 5 Filipinos did not get water from formal sources. Still another study
(Madrazo 2002) pointed out that those without household connections could only access water
from wells, springs, communal faucets, and/or from small-scale informal providers.

According to the “2005 Little Green Data Book” of the World Bank, one out of five
Filipinos does not get water from formal sources. Only 77 percent of the rural population and 90
percent of those in urban areas have access to an improved water source and only 44 percent
have direct house connections. Those without house connections access water from wells,
springs, communal faucets, and/or from small scale informal providers (Madrazo, A., 2002).

In the summer of 2007, a news article reported that water suppliers in the Visayas are
facing supply problems because of the drying up of water sources due to climatic changes.
According to Melchor Bibanco, president of the Visayas Association of Water Districts, in an
interview, most water districts were experiencing supply problems, especially during the summer
season. However, he also observes that this is getting worse each year. He attributed the
depletion of water sources to the El Niño weather phenomenon as part of the global climatic
changes (Tupas, 2007).

People depend on water for drinking, cooking, washing, carrying away wastes, and other
domestic needs. Water supply systems must also meet requirements for public, commercial, and
industrial activities. At the beginning of 2000, one-sixth (1.1 billion people) of the global
population did not have access to improved water supply and two-fifths (2.4 billion people) did
not have access to improved sanitation. The majority of these people live in Asia and Africa.
Africa has the lowest water supply coverage of the global regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America

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and the Caribbean, Oceania, Europe, and North America) and is second to Asia in terms of
lowest sanitation coverage (WHO/UNICEF 2000).

A study conducted by J. Paul Guyer entitled “ Introduction to Water Supply Systems”,

mentioned that the selection of a source of supply will be based on water availability, adequacy,
quality, cost of development and operation and the expected life of the project to be served. One
of his suggested sources of water supply is a well. Wells are constructed by a variety of methods.
Below is the table consists the types and methods of well installation.

Table 1 Type and Methods of Well Installation.

Types Diameter Maximum Lining or Suitability Disadvantages Construction
Depth (ft.) Casting
Dug 3 to 20 40 Wood, Water near Large number of Excavation
feet masonry, surface. Maybe man-hours from within
concrete or constructed with required for well.
metal hand tools construction.
Hazard to
diggers.
Driven 2 to 4 50 Pipe Simple using Formations must Hammering a
inches bend tools be soft and pipe into the
boulder free ground.

Jetted 3 to 4 200 Pipe Small dia. wells Only possible in High pressure
inches on sand loose sand water pumped
formations through drill
pipe.

Bored Up to 36 50 Pipe Useful in day Difficult on Rotating earth

inches formations loose sand or auger bracket.
cobbles

Collector 15 feet 130 Reinforced Used adjacent to Limited number Caisson is

concrete surface recharge of installation sunk into
caisson source such us contractors aquifer.
rivers, lake or Preformed
ocean radial pipes
are jacked
horizontally
through ports
near bottom.
Drilled Up to 60 4000 Pipe Suitable for Requires a. Hydraulic
inches variety of experienced rotary.
formations contractor &
specialized tools b. Cable tool
percussion.

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c. Reverse
circulation
rotary.

d. Hydraulic
percussion.

e. Air rotary

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