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PEWUP, 3f Carcar Water District Building, Poblacion, Carcar (2026)

15/09/2026

Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Water Sector

From August 30 to September 11, 2026, PEWUP welcomed STE Thamar Pieffers from the Netherlands for a mission at Carcar Water District (CWD) focused on Climate Resilience and Adaptation (CCA).

During her visit, Thamar worked closely with CWD in reviewing existing policies, plans, and approaches related to climate resilience and disaster risk management. The mission highlighted the importance of strengthening what is already in place while developing a more integrated and coordinated approach to climate resilience.

Key discussions included:
1. Understanding long-term climate change projections and their implications for the water supply sector
2. Assessing changing rainfall patterns and increasing environmental hazards
3. Exploring climate risks related to water availability, drought, flooding, landslides, and other hazards
4. Integrating scientific climate projections into planning and decision-making
5. Promoting adaptive planning to address uncertainty and changing climate conditions
6. Strengthening partnerships, knowledge sharing, and coordination
7. Exploring the proposed Integrated Climate Resilience Plan (CRIP) as a tool to support prioritization and implementation

One of the key messages from the mission is that CWD already has many of the building blocks needed for climate resilience—including strong governance, partnerships, monitoring and evaluation, and a proactive approach. The focus now is on strengthening and connecting these existing initiatives to support both short- and long-term resilience.

The mission also emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to climate adaptation. Adaptive planning can help water utilities make informed decisions amid uncertainty and balance immediate priorities with longer-term resilience needs.

PEWUP continues to support its partner Water Districts in building stronger, more resilient, and climate-ready water utilities.

10/09/2026

Strengthening Climate Resilience in Water Utilities

Today, September 10, 2026, PEWUP conducted a Climate Resilience and Adaptation Workshop facilitated by STE Thamar Pieffers from the Netherlands.

The workshop brought together representatives from six Water Districts namely, Carcar, Balamban, Toledo City, Dalaguete, Ayungon, and Bayawan, for a day of learning, reflection, and collaborative planning toward more climate-resilient water supply systems.
The session aimed to increase awareness of climate change impacts and strengthen the capacity of Water Districts to assess vulnerabilities and develop practical adaptation and resilience strategies.

Key activities included:
1. Vulnerability Mapping using each Water District’s Emergency Response Plan and infrastructure maps
2. Understanding climate risks and their potential impacts on water supply
3. Exploring Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and PAGASA climate projections
4. Identifying climate adaptation and resilience strategies
5. Group discussions on existing practices, implementation challenges, and opportunities for collaboration

Participants also examined how changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures may affect Cebu and Negros Oriental. PAGASA projections indicate that dry months may become drier while monsoon seasons may become wetter, and temperatures in Cebu and Negros Oriental are projected to increase in the coming decades.

The workshop emphasized that building climate resilience requires anticipating risks, understanding vulnerabilities, planning ahead, and working together to protect water services and communities.

PEWUP continues to support its partner Water Districts in strengthening their capacity to respond to climate-related risks and ensure more resilient and sustainable water services for the communities they serve.

07/09/2026

On September 7, 2026, PEWUP conducted an Appreciative Leadership Workshop for the staff of Balamban Water District (BWD), bringing together 34 personnel from both office and field operations for a meaningful day of learning, reflection, and connection.

The one-day workshop was facilitated by Maria Samantha Pastor and Jessa May Bacon of Carcar Water District, together with Angelica Estomago and April Raine Lavides of PEWUP. The session focused on strengthening leadership skills, deepening self-awareness, and building a culture of appreciation and collaboration within the organization.

Throughout the workshop, BWD personnel were given the opportunity to express themselves openly, share personal experiences and stories, recognize their strengths, and appreciate one another. The activities created a safe and positive space where participants could reflect on their experiences and discover how appreciation can inspire stronger relationships and better teamwork.

BWD personnel expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful and inspiring workshop. BWD’s General Manager also expressed his appreciation and strong support for the initiative and committed to cascading Appreciative Inquiry across the organization.

This workshop marks an important step toward cultivating a stronger culture of trust, collaboration, appreciation, and shared growth—empowering the people of Balamban Water District to work together and serve their community even better.

28/08/2026

Strengthening Customer Relations, Communication, and Trust Across Our Partner Water Districts

As part of PEWUP’s continuing commitment to strengthening the capacity of partner water utilities, STE Andries Ophof of WMD Drinkwater BV, Netherlands, visited partner Water Districts in Balamban, Dalaguete, and Bayawan last Aug. 8-22, 2026 to exchange experiences and explore practical ways of improving customer relations and communication.

During his visits to Balamban Water District and Dalaguete Water District, Andries engaged with the teams in discussions on their current customer concerns, communication practices, and opportunities to strengthen customer trust. The discussions emphasized the importance of providing clear, open, timely, and consistent information to customers.

At Bayawan Water District, Andries also conducted a small practical role-play activity with the staff, allowing participants to experience customer interactions from both the customer and Water District perspectives. The exercise focused on handling different customer situations, including angry, frustrated, and sad customers, while practicing listening, acknowledgment, explanation, de-escalation, and appropriate response techniques.

The mission culminated in the two-day Customer Handling Workshop held on August 19–20, 2026, at Julsams Functions, Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, participated in by six PEWUP partner Water Districts namely Carcar,Toledo City, Bayawan, Ayungon, Balamban and Metro Siquijor Water District.

Key Highlights of the Workshop

The workshop, themed “From Top 5 Customer Complaints to Practical Customer Handling Guidelines,” focused on transforming actual customer experiences into practical and consistent approaches for better service.

1. Identifying the Top 5 Customer Complaints – Participants identified and prioritized their most common and challenging customer concerns.

2. Understanding Customer Behaviors – Participants explored how to professionally respond to different customer types and situations.

3. Applying the LAEA Approach – Listen – Acknowledge – Explain – Act (LAEA) provided a practical framework for handling customer concerns with empathy and clarity.

3. Role-Play and Reflection – Participants practiced realistic customer scenarios and learned to remain calm, provide factual information, avoid unrealistic promises, and give clear next steps.

4. Mapping the Customer Journey – Participants examined the process from receiving a concern through verification, action, customer updates, and closure, identifying communication and process gaps.

5. Developing FAQs and Customer Handling Guidelines – The groups worked toward practical, clear, accurate, and consistent guidelines for addressing priority customer complaints.

The workshop reinforced two simple but powerful principles:

ONE CUSTOMER. ONE WATER DISTRICT.
SAY WHAT YOU DO. DO WHAT YOU SAY.

PEWUP extends its appreciation to STE Andries Ophof and all participating Water Districts for their active participation, openness to learning, and commitment to strengthening customer service.

Together, we continue to build responsive, consistent, and customer-focused water utilities—one customer interaction at a time.

24/08/2026

BUILDING STRONGER WATER UTILITIES THROUGH COLLABORATION AND PEER LEARNING

The CEVAWD, in collaboration with PEWUP, successfully conducted the 1st Commercial Community of Practice (CoP) Session on August 14, 2026, at Nadelmar Resort, Dalaguete, Cebu. The session brought together commercial personnel from nine participating water districts:

🔹 Tabuelan Water District
🔹 Carcar Water District
🔹 Toledo City Water District
🔹 Bogo Water District
🔹 Metropolitan Cebu Water District
🔹 Balamban Water District
🔹 Bayawan Water District
🔹 Medellin Water District
🔹 Daanbantayan Water District

The CoP provided a valuable platform for participants to share experiences, exchange good practices, discuss common commercial challenges, and learn practical solutions from one another.

Through the Commercial Marketplace and Challenge Exchange, participants shared practices and experiences on customer service, billing and collection, meter management, customer complaints, digitalization, online payment, and revenue protection.
The CoP identified three priority learning areas:

🔹 Customer Service & Communication
🔹 Billing, Collection & Revenue Protection
🔹 Meter & Service Connection Management

The next COP topic will be Meter Management and is targeted for the last quarter of 2026, with the host, venue, and exact date to be announced.

Through the Community of Practice, PEWUP and partner water districts continue to strengthen collaboration and promote continuous improvement in commercial services and water utility performance.

24/08/2026

From Data to Action: Strengthening Non-Revenue Water Management

This August, the PEWUP, together with Short-Term Expert (STE) Patrick Egan, conducted a series of technical missions on Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Management with three partner water utilities:
📍 Toledo City Water District (TCWD)| August 3–7, 2026
📍 Bayawan Water District (BAWAD)| August 10–11, 2026
📍 Ayungon Water District (AyWD)| August 12–14, 2026

The missions recognized that each water utility is at a different stage of NRW management. The activities therefore focused on assessing existing practices, strengthening current initiatives, and identifying practical actions suited to each utility.

At TCWD, the week-long mission brought together the Technical and Commercial Departments for training, field assessment, and planning on both physical and commercial water losses. As TCWD currently operates an open system without DMAs, the mission identified the establishment of four hydraulic zones—North, Central, South, and East—as a practical first step toward improved water balance and NRW monitoring.

The team also worked on water balance calculations, proactive leak detection, bulk and customer meter management, and prioritization of high-risk pipelines for rehabilitation or replacement. The mission concluded with an NRW reduction action plan for the remainder of 2026 and WaterWorX Phase 3.

At BAWAD, the mission built on the Water District's progress in NRW management. With an NRW Management Team already established, the focus is now on refining its NRW Action Plan and setting clear and measurable targets. Together with STE Patrick Egan, the team reviewed its priorities and next steps to strengthen accountability, monitoring, and implementation—moving from NRW initiatives toward a more structured and target-driven NRW reduction program.

At AyWD, where systematic NRW management is still being strengthened, the mission focused on building the fundamentals—from improving the inventory and monitoring of production meters, checking water input data, tagging and recording leaks, maintaining daily operational logbooks, and preparing reliable water balances, to strengthening staff capacity to translate field information into NRW actions.

The AyWD visit also provided an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning with BAWAD, allowing practical experiences and lessons from a more established NRW management approach to be shared and adapted to AyWD's context.

Across the three utilities, the missions highlighted an important message: NRW reduction is not only about finding and repairing leaks. It requires reliable data, clear responsibilities, measurable targets, appropriate tools, and a sustained action plan.

Thank you to STE Patrick Egan and the teams of TCWD, BAWAD, and AyWD for the active participation, openness in sharing experiences, and commitment to continuously improving water service delivery.

13/08/2026

We are delighted to welcome back our STE, Patrick Egan!

Thank you for generously sharing your expertise in Non-Revenue Water (NRW) management with Bayawan Water District. Your continued support and knowledge-sharing are invaluable in helping strengthen water utility performance and service delivery.

11/08/2026

Today, 11 August, the World Bank invited PEWUP and its partner water districts namely Carcar Water District (as the pilot for the assessment), Dalaguete Water District, Balamban Water District, and Toledo Water District, to participate in a dialogue on access to finance and utility creditworthiness as part of the preparation for the Accelerated Water and Sanitation Project in Selected Areas (AWSPSA).

The session brought together water districts to share experiences in expanding water services, explore strategies for scaling up investments, and engage in the Water Utility Creditworthiness Course and WaterCred, a tool that helps utilities assess their creditworthiness and develop action plans to improve access to financing.

This collaboration marks another important milestone in building stronger, more sustainable, and financially resilient water service providers in the Philippines.

10/08/2026

Nearly a decade of learning and working alongside our partner water districts has brought PEWUP to this moment. Today, we had the opportunity to share our capacity-building approaches and experiences as part of a benchmarking activity with representatives from DILG, the World Bank, DPWH, and UNICEF.

The benchmarking provided an opportunity for PEWUP to share its approaches, experiences, and lessons in capacity building, technical assistance, knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer learning, and sustainable performance improvement for water service providers.

A highlight of the visit was the presentation of Carcar Water District, which shared its partnership journey with PEWUP and showcased the significant improvements it has achieved in both commercial and operational performance through capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer learning, and sustained performance improvement.

This represents years of hands-on technical assistance, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and shared learning. More importantly, it reflects the commitment of our partner water districts to continuously learn, improve, innovate, and share their own experiences and expertise with others.

From building capacity to sharing what works—we are proud to see the PEWUP approach contributing to a wider conversation on strengthening water service providers in the Philippines.

05/08/2026

On July 31, 2026, the PEWUP successfully conducted the 1st Technical Community of Practice (CoP) Session at Durhan Beach Resort, Tabuelan, Cebu.

The event brought together technical professionals from nine participating water districts under the Central Visayas Association of Water Districts (CEVAWD), namely Medellin Water District, Carcar Water District, Toledo City Water District, Clarin Water District (Bohol), Tabuelan Water District, Metropolitan Cebu Water District, Balamban Water District, Daanbantayan Water District, and Dalaguete Water District. We were also delighted to welcome Ayungon Water District and Bayawan City Water District as invited participants from Negros Island, further enriching the exchange of knowledge and experiences.

The gathering served as a collaborative learning platform where participants exchanged experiences, shared best practices, discussed common operational challenges, and worked together to develop practical solutions for improving water utility performance.
One of the highlights of the session was the Technical Marketplace, where participants showcased their expertise in areas such as Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Management, Energy Efficiency, Hydraulic Modeling, GIS, Digitalization, Meter Management, Solar Applications, Pipeline Repair, Technical Operations, and Infrastructure Development. This activity demonstrated that every utility has valuable knowledge to contribute, reinforcing the importance of peer-to-peer learning and collaboration.

Participants also engaged in the Utility Map and Challenge Exchange activities, identifying their utilities' strengths while openly discussing shared technical and operational challenges. Together, they prioritized future learning topics, with Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Reduction and Management, Energy Efficiency and Pump Optimization, Water Supply and Demand Analysis emerging as the top areas for future CoP sessions.

The session concluded with the development of the CoP's governance structure and learning calendar, establishing a strong foundation for a sustainable community that promotes continuous learning, collaboration, and innovation among water utilities.

The PEWUP extends its sincere appreciation to all participating water districts, CEVAWD, and our invited partner water districts from Negros Island for their active participation and valuable contributions. Together, we continue to strengthen the capacity of water utilities through knowledge sharing, partnership, and a shared commitment to providing safe, reliable, and sustainable water services for our communities.

PEWUP

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