Steady Flow
Keeping hospital water supply running
Words by MARGA CONSTANTINO
When the lockdown was declared, Manila Water was already prepared to meet the needs of all 146 hospitals in the East Concession Zone. Apart from the Network Improvement Projects already in place for steady water supply, it installed line boosters for hospitals, where they anticipated a potential spike in demand.
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Some line boosters were already put in place during last year’s water shortage to help increase water pressure in critical facilities like hospitals. These days, Manila Water has sufficient and sustainable water supply, and vigilantly monitors hospitals’ water pressure and supply daily.
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Quezon City has the highest number of hospitals in Manila Water’s service area. But Lourdette Descalzo, the Quezon City grid manager, had to supervise daily operations of the different Pumping Station Facilities from her home. For their protection, all Manila Water employees above 50 years old were required to stay home during ECQ.
Lourdette says this was the biggest challenge she faced in her 20 years with the company. But with her dedicated staff, operations ran like clockwork. In March, Lourdette was even able to remotely coordinate the donation of about 100 linear meters of 63mm service pipes to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute to redirect water to the quarters built for their COVID patients and frontliners.
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Thirteen members of Lourdette’s staff locked down in two Quezon City pumping stations. They observed strict safety protocols, and Lourdette talked to them every day. Aside from checking on the water pressure, she made sure that they had what they needed to stay healthy and motivated despite their ongoing challenges. The team’s hard work has been paying off, as hospitals in their business area have not experienced any water service disruptions since the enforcement of the Luzon-wide lockdown. #
Published on July 31, 2020READ NEXT
