Barangays Carig, Pengue and Caggay including the Regional Government Center, Cagayan Provincial Capitol, Tuguegarao City Hall and the Philippine National Police Regional Command source their water from the MTWD reservoir in Alimanao, Cagayan. The reservoir which has been operational since 1924 is being supplied by three spring sources in Mangga, Dabba and Vunnung, Peñablanca and two ground water wells in Parabba, Peñablanca. The water sources are connected to the reservoir through two separate transmission lines which traverses the hills of Alimanao and Parabba and crossing the national highway in Parabba.
The Metropolitan Tuguegarao Water District conducts regular maintenance operations in the area to prevent leakages and assess the integrity of the pipes. To complement the spring-sourced water system pipeline transmitting water from the three spring sources to the Alimanao Ground Reservoir since the 1920s, MTWD developed a ground water production well in Parabba in the late 90s and connected it to the reservoir thru a 250 mm diameter PVC pipes in response to the vast development in the area as a result of the transfer of government offices to the designated regional government center. Business and economic enterprises have also expanded surged as people movement in the vicinity have abruptly increased. These and other development trends have triggered MTWD to respond to ensure sufficiency of domestic water in these parts of the city.
Storage facility in the MTWD reservoir in Alimanao was also replaced from an open type ground reservoir to a closed steel tank to ensure water quality and safety. Another production well in Parabba was also developed to increase supply and capacity of the production facility. Distribution network in the coverage area, particularly in the regional government center and new roads connected to the national highway in Caggay, Pengue and Carig were also developed or upgraded to maintain acceptable water pressure for the concessionaires.
After two decades, the MTWD planned to implement the upgrading of the 250mm PVC transmission line to 300mm steel pipes to increase its transmission capacity from Parabba booster pumping station to the reservoir to be better prepared for the fast-growing demand for potable domestic water in these barangays. As of January 07, 2024, the on-going pipelaying of transmission line from the national highway in Parabba to Alimanao reservoir is already at 65.21% completion. The project is expected to be completed in April 2024 and will be commissioned and fully operational before the 2nd quarter is over.
The completion and commissioning of the new transmission pipeline is also part of the District’s action to mitigate the effects of El Niño which is forecasted by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to start in mid of 2nd quarter. Ensuring water sufficiency is one of the District’s focus in its preparation and anticipation of the El Niño.