OVER a century after the Buhisan Dam’s completion, Cebu City has a new facility that is expected to supply more water to its growing population.This new facility is the P1.1 billion Lusaran Water Depot, which the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) opened on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022.During the opening of the water facility in Barangay Busay, MCWD chairman Jose Daluz III said the facility will complement the Buhisan Dam in providing much-needed water in the city.The bulk water facility can provide 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, enough to supply around 40,000 households, according to Daluz.The franchise area of MCWD, a government-owned and -controlled corporation, covers the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay and municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova.MCWD has around 100,000 service connections in Cebu City and around 200,000 in its whole franchise area.Daluz said the Lusaran water facility’s opening is a milestone for Cebu City as most of the water consumed by its residents is imported from other local government units due to lack of facilities.The Lusaran facility is also the first water facility since Buhisan Dam’s inauguration in 1912 during the American colonial period.According to the MCWD chairman, the Buhisan Dam can only generate around 8,000 to 10,000 cubic meters of water per day but the demand now for the city is around 180,000 cubic meters of water per day.“Today is a celebration of life because water is here in Busay. As they say, water is life,” said Daluz.The new water facility sources water from the Lusaran River and it uses the conventional way of treating water.With the opening of the water facility, MCWD can now fully serve at least nine Cebu City mountain barangays—Budlaan, Pulangbato, Binaliw, Agsungot, Guba, Malubog, Cambinocot, Lusaran and Paril.Its next move is to lay distribution lines that will deliver the supply of water to the barangays.Engineer Joffrey Hapitan, the chief executive officer of JE Hydro and Bio-Energy Corp., the company undertaking the project, said delivering water to the mountain barangays is challenging since these areas are located at higher altitudes.Hapitan said they have installed pressure boosters so the water can reach higher grounds.In his speech, Mayor Michael Rama welcomed the opening of the facility and said that more activities for the city’s betterment will be pursued by the City Government.“There will be more activities that the City of Cebu will be pursuing, not only in line with water but in all aspects. We need all your support,” said Rama.MCWD has spent P2.1 billion for its programs and projects that aim to increase the supply of water in Cebu since 2015.