BISLIG CITY WATER DISTRICT HISTORY

BISLIG CITY WATER DISTRICT’s (BCWD) embarked on a simple evolution from the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) in 1962 – 1969 to its official birth as water district on May 19, 1976 to what it is now, viable water utility.

Formerly known as Bislig Water District (BWD), it was created through Resolution no. 44-A of Bislig Municipal Council in 1974 and in 2004 was renamed Bislig City Water District through resolution no. 2004 – 04 issued by the District’s Board of Directors which was approved by LWUA on August 27, 2004.

Today, the BCWD serves eight of the 24 barangays of Bislig City, namely, Mangagoy, Tabon, San Fernando, Kahayag, Maharlika, Cumawas, San Roque (Forest Drive Village), and Poblacion. Of these, only Barangays Mangagoy and Tabon are thickly populated. Bislig City’s population is about 97,860.

At the start, the old BWD inherited 200 water service connection and a few facilities like the NAWASA-built Cumawas Spring and the Sian River Pumping Station, which was constructed by Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines (PICOP) in 1975. It also forcasted an increasing demand for water supply and intensified campaign for new service connections. Thus, essential planning and project proposals draw-ups followed immediately for availment of loans from LWUA.

A significant break came in 1980 to 1991 when Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) granted the mini and maxi loans totalling P13.417M meant for additional service connections, water meters, development of the Kauntuan Spring, construction of the existing BCWD office, and service vehicle acquisition. 

To keep pace, BCWD sought another loan amounting to P8.123M loan for additional water source, the San Antonio Spring Development Project.

Today, BCWD has four water sources namely Cumawas Spring, Sian River, Kauntuan Spring and San Antonio Spring to answer the water needs of more than 40,000 residents from about 8,000 water service connections composed of 7,599 domestic and government and 409 commercial connections.

For water quality, the BCWD assures safety and potability of water by conducting monthly bacteriological tests and semi-annual chemical/physical analyses of water samples at certain sampling points in accordance with the Philippine National Standard for Drinking Water.

Currently, the District has a total workforce of 57 composed of regular and causal employees.

Indeed, BCWD continues to enhance its overall operations with the goal of sustaining the optimum balance between service and viability.