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“Magkano tubig ninyo?” A question that crops up once in awhile in my mommy chikas. Ours is between P 1,500 to P2,000 per month because we have a fish pond. Kaya naman I am diligent in reminding our kasambahays to be mindful of their water consumption. I appeal to a higher cause aside from my ever-growing budget and instead tell them “’Wag tayong magsayang ng tubig, nauubos siya.” With that may effect din sa kanila and not just on my budget.
And since we are on budget, Maynilad is adjusting their water tariff rates soon. Relax! Puso ninyo! The increase is necessary para patuloy ang improvements sa water and wastewater services. It’s good to know that the water rate follows a subsidized structure so that those who consume less water are charged lower rates. We consume 54 cubic meters per month, and we are only charged residential rates. In effect, high consumers (like Commercial establishments) pay for my consumption. So the increase for households will be very minimal.
Water rates are adjusted pala every five years in a process called Rate Rebasing. It is meant to make gradual rate adjustments to cover the advance investments of Maynilad to improve their services. When it comes to water service, Maynilad does not only bring water to our homes, but they also make sure that the quality of the water that they provide meets the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water. Then, they still don’t stop there as they treat the wastewater before discharging it back to the bodies of water.
Thus, the tariff increase will go to projects to further enhance water and wastewater services, which will ultimately benefit us, the consumers.
For us who are going to be affected, here are a few tips to save on our water bill and help save Mother Earth.
- Have kasambahays and kids on board with the Tipid Tubig efforts. As I mentioned earlier, we try to call on a higher cause (nauubos ang tubig) and not just our budget. My kids are nature lovers and when I tell them they are doing this for Mother Earth, they are very cooperative.
- Show kasambahays in actual how much flowing water is needed in order to wash dishes or vegetable. Dati kasi wow! Naka-todo ang faucet eh pwede naman half way.
- In cleaning the car, hose the car at first to remove the dust which may scratch the car and then when shampooing use a basin.
- Cut laundry to twice a week only. Laundry consumes a lot of water because the basin/washing machine will be filled whether there are 10 shirts or 20 shirts.
- Don’t let the water flow while soaping body, shampooing or brushing teeth, especially for kids.
- Use a thawing basin, to thaw food. Better though to bring out the food to be thawed in advance kasi water thawing is not really recommended especially for beef.
- Repair leaks fast. One time there was a leak in our pond! And our water bill soared to almost P 6,000. Thankfully, we were able to immediately address the leak.
Hope the above tips will be helpful in managing our household’s water consumption. For all we know, we won’t even notice the increase in rate.
Tipid Tubig!
