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History

The Cabanatuan City Water District is a quasi-public corporation established pursuant to PD 198 on October 18, 1974 through a resolution enacted by the Honorable City Council of Cabanatuan City.

The provisions of PD 198 as amended provided that once a Water District is formed it becomes autonomous, not falling under the jurisdiction of any government entity but operates only pursuant to the relative provisions of the law.

Initially, the sole personnel of the Cabanatuan City Water District was ARTURO G. VILLASAN then Secretary to the Mayor of Cabanatuan City, who concurrently represented the interests of the CCWD with the LOCAL WATER UTILITIES ADMINISTRATION (LWUA) which is the national agency tasked by PD 198 in overseeing the creation, registration and providing financial packages in terms of loans for the development of water districts.

It must be noted that at the time the CCWD was formed, the Cabanatuan City Water Works was owned and operated by the Province of Nueva Ecija. CCWD was just an entity without a water system.

That was until the late Governor Eduardo L. Joson heeded the entreaties of the citizens of Cabanatuan through the late Mayor Mario S. Garcia to turn over the ownership of the system to the CABANATUAN CITY WATER DISTRICT. This magnanimous act was made on March 12, 1975 with Governor “Tatang” Joson formally transferring the whole system to the CCWD, then represented by Arturo G. Villasan, who at that time, was already its general manager.

Initially, the Board of Directors of Cabanatuan City Water District was composed of:

CELESTINO E. RIVERA
Chairman

TOMAS N. JOSON, III
Vice Chairman

DR. ROLAN C. ESTEBAN
Member

DR. ROMEO E. ORTIZ
Member

AGRIPINA M. CUSTODIO
Member

The old water system taken over by the CCWD was constructed by the Insular Government in 1919 and was finished in 1922. It was originally designed to supply 300 service connections which included the Provincial Government Complex and other private buildings in the immediate surroundings.

The system went through several expansions between 1975 and 1978. The area of coverage was expanded by installing pumps in the existing artesian wells in Bonifacio, Aduas, Sangitan, Melencio, and deep wells were drilled at the Kapitan Pepe Subdivision, NFA Compound, and Sangitan Market, Provincial Park in addition to the wells originally drilled in 1920 at the Provincial Grounds, CLPC and at the site of Water Works elevated tank along del Pilar St..

In 1980, the CCWD secured a loan from the World Bank through the LWUA amounting to FORTY TWO MILLION (Php42,000,000.00) PESOS and undertook a massive rehabilitation program from 1980 to 1982.

An entirely new water system was constructed and the old one scrapped. Through systematic planning and execution only the amount of THIRTY TWO MILLION (Php32,000,000.00) was availed and spent out of the approved amount.

The new system was completed in 1982 consisted of TWO (2) elevated concrete tanks with capacities of 1360 cubic meters each (the old tank at Del Pilar St. held 436 cubic meters only), FIVE (5) deepwells with capacities of 125 to 200 cubic meters per hour (The old wells had capacities of 30 to 60 cubic meters per hour). Its pipelines had a total length of SIXTY EIGHT (68) kilometers with sizes ranging from FOUR (4) to TWELVE (12) inches in diameter. It was good for 6,000 service connections.

Since then, the CCWD had undertaken programmed maintenance and expansions to keep in stride with the rapid increase in demand brought about by the unprecedented progress of Cabanatuan City. Over a period of 34 years, the CCWD stayed a step ahead of the demand for potable water in the City of Cabanatuan. Even during the power crisis of the early nineties when power outages reached up to 12 hours a day, the CCWD kept providing uninterrupted water supply at very adequate pressures because it had anticipated the crisis and prepared for it by using its internally generated revenues to purchase diesel generating sets for its wells.

Neither was the CCWD caught unaware by the unprecedented influx of business that started in 1992 and up to the present. The CCWD, originally designed for 6,000 service connections now serves efficiently 29,831 service connections or almost five times its original design. Since its completion in 1982, the CCWD has laid 219.02 kilometers of pipes, drilled 31 additional wells and constructed two elevated concrete tanks with capacity of 1361 cubic meters each and three fiberglass panel type ground reservoirs with capacities of 198 cubic meters, 384 cubic meters and 1080 cubic meters, using internally generated funds.

As the third millennium begins, the CCWD is as ready as ever to keep in stride of progress. Already in its expansion program are barangays Buliran, Valle Cruz, and Caalibangbangan. The future demands of water in the current service areas have been forecasted and the necessary provisions for more supply and sufficient pressure are in the process of execution.