News Release

Need for Clean Water Urgent

Reprinted from SunStar Cebu, January 3, 2015

Public and private donors are sending clean water and water treatment facilities to southern Cebu towns recovering from Tropical Storm Seniang.

The Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas has not received any reports of water-borne diseases so far, but has asked municipal health officers to monitor their water sources and make sure these have not been contaminated.

Seniang caused 45 incidents, including landslides, floods and a tornado, in nine regions, the national disaster council said in its report as of Monday morning.

However, the national report listed only seven barangays in Bohol as the ones “experiencing water interruption.”

It also said that the storm had destroyed P685 million worth of crops and agricultural equipment, as well as P72.95 million worth of public infrastructure.

In Cebu, the Manila Water consortium sent Monday a mobile water treatment plant to Alcantara, where it can supposedly transform murky stream water into drinkable water, at a rate of 1,500 to 3,000 liters of per hour.

This means four water treatment systems are now in place in the south, said Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr.

These include the three water filtration systems provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the Mormons (not the Lutheran Church as reported earlier) in Barangays Ilaya, Tupas and Poblacion, all in Ronda.

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Style Guide Note:When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. For more information on the use of the name of the Church, go to our online Style Guide.