Iloilo – CS Water Iloilo accepted the challenge to bring clean and safe water supply to Janiuaynons. CS stands for CITICORE Power Inc. and Summa Water Resources Inc. joined to form the CS Water brand in partnership with the Janiuay Water District (JWD).
Led by passionate and skilled individuals, CS Water Iloilo officially launched yesterday, July 29, with the blessing of their building office located near the town center of Janiuay. This partnership is also in pursuant to the PPP or the Public-Private Partnership as encouraged by the government, says Atty. Micheal Margarico, Legal Counsel for Janiuay Water District, in a media briefing also held yesterday. CS Water took over last July 1, 2019 as stipulated in an agreement, and a few days before the month ends, the company decided to officially launch the project. CS Water is granted a renewable franchise of 25 years.
Humble Beginnings
Five years ago Summa Water Resources Inc. started as a water treatment company providing bulk water for Janiuay. At first, Sharon Rose BrasileƱo, General Manager of Janiuay Water District, was hesitant that the people could not pay the services, but Summa Water assured her that their goal was not to profit from the people. The bulk water supply project and the treatment facility were established with water from Suage River as the source. Over time, their partnership strengthened, and eventually, it led to the birth of the joint venture company, CS Water.
A New Milestone
Measures have already taken place such as the deployment of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Team to assess the pipelines and other existing facilities because one of the major challenges of the new management is the NRW or water that does not go into the system or water that is wasted due to leakages and pilferage. Other accomplishments are the acquisition of a generator set for availability of water despite power outage, efficient information dissemination in water advisories, Landbank as a new payment center, and the Read and Bill System. Dirty water due to decades old pipelines and lack of water supply will become a thing of the past for Janiuaynons. With this new venture, CS Water Iloilo can now fully help ensure the continuous supply of clean water in Janiuay and the local government, as expressed by Mayor Bienvenido Margarico, who fully supports these developments.
Looking Ahead
After the initial phase of investigation, CS Water Iloilo will map a timeline of repairs and development of new pipelines and facilities as well as the expansion of the water system to cater more households. Currently they are serving 24 barangays out of 60 and their target is to give water access to 40 barangays, hopefully within the next 5 years with a target budget of P119.62 million.
CS Waterās mission to improve, upgrade, and expand water utilities for better service of providing clean and safety water does not stop here. Soon they will cater to more communities with the venture in Janiuay as a stepping stone, and hopefully more people will have access to quality water provided none other than CS Water Iloilo./PN
