THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said residents in isolated barangays are seeing potable water costs fall by more than half with the rollout of government-supported water system programs.
In a statement on Sunday, the DENR said the Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) indicates that households in underserved communities are now paying less for drinking water after the installation of refilling and filtration facilities.
In areas served by local water districts, the DENR has deployed high-grade refilling equipment that allows barangays to reduce the retail price of drinking water to P15 per five-gallon container, or roughly half of prevailing commercial rates.
The DENR said installation was completed in 2025 in parts of Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Leyte, Negros Oriental, and Cagayan.
Meanwhile, the DENR said a separate filtration program reduced water prices in remote island communities in Romblon, Sorsogon, Occidental Mindoro, Bohol, and Zamboanga City to between P20 and P25 per container from previous levels of P50 to P70.
“In 2026, two additional sites are operational in Bohol and Bulacan, while the remaining sites are nearing completion, such as those in Zamboanga City, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, and Eastern Samar,” the DENR added.
The DENR said it also undertook technical measures to support long-term water supply, including the completion of 66 georesistivity surveys as of May 2025.
The surveys, which are used to identify potential groundwater sources prior to drilling, were provided to local government units at no cost, the DENR said.
It added that the rollout of the Infiltration Gallery Project, which taps subsurface river flows, has benefited more than 79,000 individuals.
The WRMO expects its programs to provide safe water access to about 440,000 people by year’s end, supported by a P256.9-million budget for 2026.
Planned projects include new filtration and desalination systems in 59 barangays, support for 13 water districts to expand coverage, and upland spring water systems, some of which will incorporate micro-hydropower, the DENR said. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel
