By CESAR JOLITO III
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador “Bading” Escalante acknowledged that PrimeWater has been struggling to keep up with the city’s growing water demand, even as he expressed hope that a reported sale of the company to new operators could improve services.
Escalante told reporters yesterday that while Cadiz continued to expand and new housing projects were developed, demand for water steadily increased, and PrimeWater eventually struggled, leading to supply problems in several areas.
“Residents were satisfied [with PrimeWater] at first,” Escalante said.
On reports that PrimeWater has been sold, the mayor said he is cautiously optimistic.
He recalled that during the peak of the water crisis, there were already talks in Manila about a possible sale, although these were initially just discussions, adding that his understanding is the buyers are Manila-based operators with a good track record.
“I hope the sale pushes through,” Escalante said.
Despite frustrations with water shortages, the mayor stressed that terminating the joint venture would not be easy, noting that the agreement runs for 25 years.
“Just imagine canceling a joint venture — it is not an easy thing,” he said.
Joint venture
He added that the city entered into a joint venture with PrimeWater six to seven years ago after the Cadiz City Water District faced serious operational problems.
At that time, the water district was serving about 8,000 household consumers and needed billions of pesos in investment to improve and expand its system.
To address the crisis, PrimeWater — owned by the Villar group — was brought in as a concessionaire under a joint venture agreement, with PrimeWater holding a 70 percent share and the water district retaining 30 percent as a “safety net,” Escalante explained.
When PrimeWater initially took over, the system showed significant improvement.
Consumer connections increased from around 9,000 to 10,000 to about 14,000 households, with stronger water pressure that even reached third-floor levels in some areas.
At one point, Escalante even considered declaring a state of calamity due to water shortages, particularly during the height of summer.
Instead, the city government sat down with PrimeWater to address the issue.
As part of the response, PrimeWater expanded its pumping capacity, upgrading from two 40-horsepower pumps to three 60-horsepower pumps.
While this improved supply in some areas, Escalante noted that communities located farther from pumping stations still experience low water pressure, especially when one pump undergoes maintenance or breaks down.
To mitigate shortages, the city tapped the Cadiz City Water District’s sources to supply water to some areas, including Yolanda housing sites.
Currently, some barangays are served by PrimeWater, while others are supplied by the water district, with plans to further expand bulk water sources.
Escalante also revealed that potential investors have expressed interest in supplying bulk water, but these would cater to the water district rather than PrimeWater.
He said this arrangement could allow the water district to play a bigger role if PrimeWater fails to respond quickly to supply issues.
“If PrimeWater cannot react on time, the water district may increase its share from 30 percent to 40 or even 50 percent to balance supply and demand,” he said./CJ, WDJ