BAGUIO CITY – The installation of a rain harvesting and water filtration system of a shopping mall here will cut the daily demand from the local water utility by at least 175 cubic meters. Environment Management Bureau (EMB) in the Cordillera Region officer-in-charge Jean Borromeo also urged other large business establishments to put up their own rain harvesting and water filtration system to help solve the city's water shortage problem. "Baguio records an annual average of 900 to 4,000 millimeters of rainfall, the highest in the country but still we experience scarcity," Borromeo said during the launch of SM Baguio's filtration system. Borromeo lauded the mall's initiative to not just help provide water but also prevent landslides with rainwater simply flowing and drenching the soil in this mountain resort city. Marc Jansen Pe, SM Prime Holdings senior assistant vice president for operations, said their new water filtration system can produce an annual average of 51 million cubic meters of potable water both for tenants and mall goers. He said the mall consumes a daily average of 460 cubic meters of water that comes from the Baguio Water District (BWD). "Dahil may sarili na kaming production na malaki-laki, mababawasan ang kinukuha namin sa Baguio Water District na puwede nilang i-supply sa ibang consumers (we can produce quite a large volume of water that will decrease our demand from BWD, and they can supply that to other consumers)," Pe said on the sidelines of the media launch. In 2017, SM constructed a rain harvesting facility that can collect 6,399 cubic meters of water or about two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pool. The water was then used only for the watering of plants and flushing toilets. But with the water filtration installed, tap water in the establishments within the mall, including the washrooms, can now be used for washing dishes, cooking, and even for drinking. "The rainwater treatment facility will reduce our dependency and stress on the water table and leave more freshwater for the community," Pe said. He said the same water harvesting project will soon be rolled out in other SM Malls.

Small residence consumption

Aldwin Quitasol, a resident of San Carlos Heights in Irisan on Naguilian Road, said their average monthly water consumption is 5.5 cubic meters. "We get water rationing every Wednesday and Sunday," he said. Except at the central business district, water is rationed to village consumers in Baguio twice or thrice a week. The water provided to SM Baguio originates from an impounding facility that also supplies residents on Naguilian Road, Kisad Road, City Camp, Honeymoon Road, Magsaysay Ave., General Luna Road, and in the central business district. Data provided by the BWD showed that its deep wells have a total production capacity of 48,000 cubic meters per day. Last week, the BWD announced a plan to construct additional water impounding facilities for rainwater harvesting to augment the city's growing demand for water.