By Cezar Tigno
Web Writer, ADB
People of a small town in Cebu Island, Philippines don’t know it yet, but they have been contributing to worldwide efforts in slowing down global climate change. Their newly installed water supply system that uses solar power—a renewable energy source—eases the earth’s atmosphere of deadly greenhouse gases. Will replicating this small feat have big impacts on the country’s greenhouse gas emissions?
The global race against climate change has been picking up speed in the past few years, and calls for using renewable, nongreenhouse-gas-emitting energy sources have been stronger than ever. But the tiny town of Butong (Population: About 1,000) in Ronda municipality, Cebu Island is already a step ahead of everyone. In 2003, Butong acquired the world’s first solar-powered, pre-paid, water supply pumping and distribution system.
Through solar panels, the system harvests sunshine and converts it into electricity to run a pump that draws water from an underground river and aquifer 23 meters deep. No diesel fuel; no harmful greenhouse gas emissions; no contribution to global warming. And safe, clean water for the people of Butong.
WorldWater, an international company expert in solar technologies and water resources management, introduced the system to Butong residents. A key attraction of the system is the bright blue “AquaCard,” a debit card that enables customers to purchase water on a pre-paid basis. Similar to the ubiquitous cellular phone cards that people from the Philippines and in Asia are familiar with, the reusable Aquacard is credited with a volume of water that can be recharged every so often.
The Municipality of Ronda lies outside Cebu City, just a two-and-a-half hour drive away. Yet, once there, one gets the feeling of being transported into another dimension, as the remoteness of the hilly town contrasts vividly with the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Cebu.
There are public grade schools and high schools, but no institution of higher education in Ronda. No public libraries either, nor commercial banks. There is one public telephone station and a post office. To get in or out of the town, one has to take 1 of the few jeepneys that ply the dusty roads to and from the city. Before the WorldWater system was installed in Butong, people had to rely on mechanical hand pumps that often break down.
“When it seldom rains, and our hand pump is broken, life was very difficult. I had to buy water at 5 pesos per container,” an old woman Ronda resident said. She was being interviewed by an international news network that featured her town’s hi-tech water supply system. “The next available hand pump is very far and water delivery is at 15 pesos per container,” she added.
Today, the bright solar panels of Butong’s water pumping system stand out from a green backdrop of shrubs and trees. They seem out-of-place in this far-flung community, but Butong residents proudly show them off to every visitor of their modest town.
Water drawn by the solar-powered pumping system passes through a chlorinator that purifies the water before being stored in a large water tank. A 6-kilometer pipeline then transports about 25 cubic meters of water daily to 10 distribution points. At each of these points is a blue and white digital AquaMeter that dispenses the water.
To get water, one only has to insert a charged AquaCard into the AquaMeter’s card slot, key in the desired volume of water, place a bucket or any container under the tap, and push a button. Water is dispensed and the AquaMeter deducts the volume from the card.
The AquaMeters are scattered across Butong—near the elementary school, in front of a local store, across the basketball court, and other strategic areas. Like the water pumping system, they are also powered by solar energy, and can store sales data that local officials retrieve every month. The AquaCards can be bought and topped up at the municipal hall.
Such a hi-tech system as WorldWaters’ can be expensive, especially for a town as humble as Butong. But the people didn’t have to dig deep into their pockets to come up with the necessary money for the system to be installed. When Ronda local officials saw the system’s viability, they sought help from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) to pay for the equipment. Payment for the 7-year PNB loan comes from the proceeds of AquaCard sales.
The pre-paid system offered some comfort to the bank in terms of security of payment and to the people of Butong, who now have control over their water consumption. Since the system has been installed, the price of water has gone down from 10 pesos to 3 pesos per 20 liters.
“The people even set the tariff themselves,” said John Hermann, president of WorldWater Philippines. “The system seems so hi-tech but when you break it down, it is something that the community can easily handle,” he added.
How effective is Butong’s solar-powered water supply system in reducing the Philippines’ greenhouse gas emissions? The figure has yet to be quantified, but the small step the community has made opens up the potential of solar power in providing water to other far-flung communities in the country, without having to rely on diesel fuel or other energy sources that harm the environment.
In fact, WorldWater has also undertaken several other clean energy projects such as a solar-powered water supply facility in Sulu province similar to the Butong system and irrigation systems that use solar energy in Benguet, Nueva Ecija, and Maguindanao provinces. A host of other solar energy projects are in WorldWater’s pipeline.
With more projects like these, the Philippines will not only reduce its greenhouse gas emissions—pegged at 100.738 megatons in 1994 and projected to increase to 195 megatons in 20081—it will also help provide rural communities with safe and affordable drinking water. Hopefully, the weather at Butong, Ronda will remain sunny despite climate change.