JUST as we expected, and just as those experts in MWSS and NWRB knew, it wasn’t their genius on the job that gave us rain, and with rain, water to wet our thirsty reservoirs.
There’s not enough yet to pull up the water level in Angat, La Mesa, Ipo, and Binga, but let’s be thankful for small favors from heaven. Let’s be fair also. If the water concessionaires are being penalized for failure to deliver, so should the public servants looking over their shoulder be made to account for their inability to anticipate the dry season and the strong demand for water during the hot months. If my work involved just waiting for the rainy season to solve a problem, should I charge taxpayers for my salary?
I asked Jeric Sevilla, group head of Manila Water’s corporate strategic affairs, to explain a minor miracle. For, just as Angat hit critical, the water coming out of our faucets arrived in a tidy stream and no longer as droplets, alleluia! Although the official line is that service cut-offs are still 12 to 16 hours long, Jeric indirectly attributes the windfall (waterfall?) to “more rains falling into the watershed areas.”
His clients in our slightly elevated area should feel blessed, indeed, but without sounding ungrateful, are farmers getting back their fair share of the allocation? That was NWRB’s bored solution, which was not a solution, taking away water from the farmers to stop urbanites yelling and wailing for “Tubig!” It worked, didn’t it, the complaints died down but we never heard a peep from the deprived farmers.
For their sake, let’s re-learn the precious pricelessness of water, every drop of it wherever it comes from. Don’t use a garden hose to wash your car. (I’ve kept mine out of sight so as not to tempt the driver.) Don’t turn on the water to maximum volume because you don’t need maxi, mini will do. Each member of the family should have their own drinking glass for use throughout the day. Don’t brush your teeth with the water running, Richard Gomez’ favorite tip. Don’t luxuriate in the shower for more than three minutes, Peter Musngi’s mantra. In the toilet, “if it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” The biggest wasters of water at home are husbands, according to a survey conducted by a happily married suburban wife.
