The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has stepped up its operations to provide clean water supply to residents in the Visayas and Mindanao, especially in areas that have been gravely affected by Typhoon Odette last month.

LWUA Administrator Guiling "Gene" Mamondiong said the agency would also purchase water treatment facilities that can quickly produce and augment water supply in Odette-hit areas.

"This is our best response as of this time, given the situation. Once the water passes through the filters and treatment, it is totally safe to drink, even murky, flood water," he emphasized.

According to Mamondiong, the LWUA is eyeing to station these facilities in strategic cities such as Davao, Cagayan De Oro, Tacloban, San Fernando in Pampanga, and La Union.

LWUA, as part of its "Task Force Odette," had also sent out its six teams of engineers and experts to the 181 water districts in different regions that bore the brunt of Odette.

These include the nine water districts in MIMAROPA; 67 in Western Visayas, 24 in Central Visayas; 30 in Eastern Visayas; 25 in CARAGA; and 26 in Northern Mindanao.

"We had to physically send our people there because these water districts were so severely damaged and remain without communication lines until now," the LWUA chief explained.

Mamondiong said the teams have been assessing the extent of damage and cost of repair to water infrastructures in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, the Administrator also thanked other water districts that extended assistance in the agency's relief and rehabilitation efforts including Metro Cebu, Toledo, Carcar, Balamban, Roxas, Puerto Princesa, Sogod, and Leyte.