Deep well operators in the city were given until Feb. 13 to comply with the sanitary order issued by the Sanitation Division of the City Health Services Office.
Sanitation Division Officer-in-Charge Roberto Bruce Colewan said the order issued on Jan. 31 required all deep well operators to comply with the corrective measures recommended by their office to level up the sanitation standards in their work stations as part of the more stringent policies to ensure water safety in the city.
The order mandates deep well operators to require their employees to use personal protective equipment like hair nets, rubber gloves, and boots.
The city also recommended that employers provide uniforms to their employees for proper identification.
The order directed deep well operators to bar delivery trucks without business permits from drawing raw water from them.
Earlier, it was agreed all water delivery firms that have no business permits will be issued notices of violation while legitimate ones who draw water from colorum sources will also be penalized through the cancellation of their permits.
The sanitary order also required deep well operators to submit a list of delivery trucks they are serving including the name of truck owners, addresses and contact numbers for monitoring purposes.
This is in line with the memorandum of Mayor Benjamin Magalong last Jan. 30 directing the Local Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Task Force to submit an inventory report on water delivery trucks including an assessment of their compliance with water quality measures and recommendations for improvement or corrective actions.
Colewan said random testing activities continue water delivery businesses including delivery trucks and those found positive for microorganisms are immediately shut down and allowed to operate only upon implementation of corrective measures and obtaining negative test results from succeeding tests. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
