Mindanaotoday.com | COWD assures safe drinking water
CAGAYAN DE ORO – For 50 years now, there has been no single report that the water supply of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) got contaminated and became unsafe for the drinking public.
This was declared by COWD General Manager Antonio Young before a group of media practitioners who joined a plant tour of COWD’s water production well, treatment facility, and water testing laboratory at the Macasandig booster station here, August 17.
Engr. Alex Augustus Abangan, COWD production department manager, has explained the water production processes, which start from the production well to the water treatment facility, the distribution line, and the end customer.
Abangan emphasized that water samples are regularly collected for testing from the production well up to the end customer to ensure that the water is free from chemical and bacterial contamination that pose a threat to human health.
The COWD, Abangan said, sees to it that its water is potable and free from cancer-causing chemicals and metals that may be found in the aquifer, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and nitrate.
A chemist and a medical technologist are manning COWD’s water testing laboratory to test the chemicals and the microorganisms present in the water, respectively.
Chemist Ralph Christian B. Tacastacas said clear water is not always safe unless it passes the standard set by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL). He assures the public that COWD’s water is safe to drink, as its quality meets the NRL standard.
COWD serves not only the residents of Cagayan de Oro City but also the neighboring towns of Tagoloan in the east and Opol in the west, with 108,406 service connections. It was established on August 1, 1973, as the first water district in the country. (FPG/PIA-10)
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