Water container sales surge in Bulacan amid service cuts, El Niño

CITY OF BALIWAG — Water buckets, drums, and other branded containers have been flying off the shelves for more than a week now as residents deal with ongoing water service interruptions in many Bulacan towns and the “Super El Niño.”

At Imelda Drum Trading along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Tarcan in Baliwag City, average daily sales of P2,000-P5,000 have doubled, according to Edna Sabido, the store manager’s wife. 

Bulacan motorists bound for Nueva Ecija and Metro Manila or headed home have stopped at her store to scoop up a bucket or two. 

READ: El Niño affects over 451,000 people in PH – NDRRMC

“Now that products started to move fast, our sales reach up to P10,000 a day,” she told the Inquirer at the store on October 16.

Sales began to surge following the series of advisories over social media about the Oct. 13-14 water service interruptions scheduled in the cities of Malolos, Meycauayan, San Jose del Monte, and the municipalities of Bulakan, Guiguinto, Balagtas, Marilao, Obando, and Sta. Maria to repair an aqueduct operated by the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage (MWSS). 

The public works were extended to Oct. 15, and as of this week, utility services have not been fully restored in many areas.

Water drums are priced by their capacity: a 30-liter drum costs P200; larger drums cost P1,400 to P1,600, and giant drums and water basins have sold for P6,000 to P7,000.

Massive online sales of water drums and containers have also been observed amid news reports that the dry spell may begin at the end of 2026 and stretch until summer in 2027.

Many households also heeded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s advice to buy containers and stock up on water. 

READ: Marcos urges Filipinos to collect rainwater ahead of Super El Niño 

Ironically, Baliwag itself has not joined the water drum frenzy. “We don’t sell much here in Baliwag because we do not experience water problems here. Water services are good and sufficient,” Sabido said. 

Drum retailers in Metro Manila have also purchased additional supplies from Bulacan to beef up their stocks, she said. 

“Prices will definitely go higher next time; they will increase already because of possible supply shortage,’ she said.   

The containers are byproducts of soaps, lard, cosmetics, and other materials used by different factories in Metro Manila and parts of Luzon.  

Bulakan Water Company Inc.,  the Hiraya Water Corporation City of Malolos, and other water companies in Bulacan continue to issue advisories urging households to brace for limited water services due to ongoing rehabilitation activities by Luzon Clean Water Development Corporation (LCWDC). The water concessionaire supplies tap water to Bulacan under the Bulacan Bulk Water System Project (BBWSP). 

READ: El Niño affecting 14 regions, agriculture sustains P6.87-B damage

Many Bulacan water districts sourced their water from Angat Dam through the bulk water system. 

Traditional farm stores arr also selling drums and containers along Maharlika Highway in Baliwag. 

Bulacan food producers have been preparing for prolonged drought, which would impact all 24,000-hectare rice farms tended by nearly 27,000 farmers from 17 towns in Bulacan and 4 municipalities in Pampanga, according to Enrique Carlos, Bulacan chief of the Irrigation Management Office overseen by the National Irrigation Administration. 

In an interview on Monday, Carlos said the current 25 cubic meters per second (cms) volume of water release to farmers could be reduced to 20 cms at the start of the dry season cropping early next year. 

Because of the Super El Nino, the start of preparations for planting may also be moved, he said. 

“The wet season cropping in July was moved to August because there was no water available for irrigation. Our schedule for the dry cropping is in January or February. We still await the allocation advisory to see if it will be 25 cms or will further be decreased to 20 cms,” he said.

Irrigation facilitated by the Angat Maasim River Irrigation System (AMRIS) comes from Angat Dam. After a series of rains, Angat’s reservoir level was 209.56 meters above sea level as of Monday, close to its normal water elevation of 210 masl.

Angat Dam suffered a major depletion on July 26, recording an elevation of 150.55 masl, breaking its lowest elevation record of 157 masl in 2010, an El Niño year. 

Bulacan Provincial Agriculture Officer Gloria Carillo proposed a water management and rotational water delivery protocol for vulnerable rice and vegetable farms, planting early-maturing palay rice variety, and using Swallow Tube Well (STW) Pumps for water reuse. 

READ: Drought forecast to hit more areas until March 2027 – Pagasa

Carillo also recommended distributing seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, crop insurance, and cash assistance for farmers and providing pump and engine sets for fishermen, including fishpond insurance, nets, motors for bancas, and cash assistance./coa