A bright smile is reflected on the face of a village woman in Barangay Bacay II in Veruela, Agusan del Sur, while she gently swishes her laundry through the sudsy water she had collected and stored in the tank days ago with their rainwater harvesting system. A few years back, doing the laundry with such convenience for residents in the area would have not been possible.

Before, the community endured and suffered the lack of sustainable water supply and access to safe drinking water.  Some residents of the barangay were forced to walk a few kilometers since the nearest water source is distant. Because of this, they sometimes fetch water from dug wells. Without access to clean drinking water, residents were susceptible to water-borne diseases. When the Kalahi-CIDSS program came into their barangay, the community unanimously decided to propose this sub-project as solution to their needs. Now, with their rainwater harvester the community has an improved water supply and a sustainable source of potable water since each facility can store up to 2,000 liters of rainwater which they can use for their daily consumption.

Residents of the barangay are jubilant since they will be able to utilize their 146 installed rainwater harvester for domestic uses such as drinking, bathing, washing clothes and many others.  The said sub-project is funded through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program.