Ateneo de Manila Launches the Philippine Groundwater Outlook Website

Ateneo de Manila University, in partnership with the British Geological Survey, launched the Philippine Groundwater Outlook (PhiGO) website last February 12, 2021 to allow stakeholders, decision makers, and the general public to have a better understanding of the assessments on regional groundwater resources in selected areas in the Philippines.

 

“When people have information about PhiGO and an understanding of what we are doing, they are more likely to support us and see the impacts that the project can potentially have,” said UK Lead Dr. Andrew Barkwith.
 

 

Led by Dr. Ma. Aileen Leah Guzman from the Ateneo de Manila University and Dr. Barkwith from the British Geological Survey, PhiGO is a three-year collaborative project that aims to deliver constant, accessible, and transferable assessments of climate and population change on regional groundwater resources and their subsequent influence on flood, drought-risk, and socioeconomics.

 

“About half of the population in the Philippines heavily rely on groundwater resources for domestic water purposes, but it is only now through this project that we are able to identify the remaining level of groundwater in selected localities both in quantity and quality,” Dr. Guzman said. “It is really about providing the immediate information that decision makers need for the better management of groundwater resources,” she added.
 

 

To accomplish this mission, the project generates reports on near real-time groundwater monitoring systems, enhanced models of regional groundwater dynamics, seasonal and long-term forecasts of groundwater levels, and stakeholder-focused reports of flood, drought risk, and cascading hydrological and socioeconomic impacts. This is made possible by an innovative Groundwater Monitoring System that consists of a self-sustaining power supply that utilizes renewable solar energy, sensors and controls that gather accurate information for select water parameters, and an efficient cloud server for data visualization. 
 

 

“We wanted to design and develop a sustainable system that needs minimal maintenance but can still generate the necessary information for the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) at a regular interval and send it via a cellphone-like transmission system using mobile data,” explained Ateneo Innovation Center Director and PhiGO Lead Engr. Carlos Oppus. 

 

Moreover, the system utilizes a pressure sensor and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) setup in measuring water level to prevent unexpected malfunctions and for faster data calibration. “Initially, we wanted to use LiDAR sensors to measure water level, but our experiments showed that it can only measure up to eight meters, and our wells can be as deep as 40 meters,” said Engr. Oppus. Since their UK partner Imperial College of London uses the LiDAR setup, the Philippine team used the pressure sensor to be able to compare the two systems and eventually develop a hybrid of the two systems.

 

PhiGO assesses water quality based on six metrics: static water level, pH level, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, and temperature. In addition, the website presents relevant information about the mentioned variables, such as definition, optimal levels, and adverse consequences in case of unfavorable conditions. Engr. Oppus revealed, “There are a lot of metrics for water quality such as dissolved oxygen, but the metrics were limited due to mechanical and budget constraints. Regardless, we included metrics that are specifically requested by NWRB.”

 

The project currently operates with eight well sites that are mostly situated in public schools scattered across Iloilo City and Pampanga. These well sites are among the nine highly urbanized water critical cities in the Philippines, as determined by a study on water constraints conducted by NWRB and Japan International Cooperation Agency.
 

 

“It was nice to have the well sites be situated in public schools because it enabled us to hold a few groundwater learning sessions for the Filipino students in the locality. [That way,] they can have a firsthand experience of the research and groundwater education,” Dr. Barkwith said. “In fact, the PhiGO team piloted a groundwater learning module for both students and teachers last year,” Dr. Guzman added.

 

Furthermore, PhiGO holds stakeholder engagement events and training sessions regularly to ensure the transferability of the current methods and technologies that the project utilizes to Filipino locals.
 

 

“[Although] we are only currently working with two localities in the Philippines at the moment, we hope to have something that can be transferred to other sites at the end of the project—may it be carried on by LGUs or other universities. The idea is to [train] as many individuals who can possibly run the models and methods we are currently using and build on what we have done,” said Dr. Barkwith.

 

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly hampered the operation of the project. “Aside from the delays in knowledge-exchange sessions and stakeholder infrastructure network workshops, it has also been difficult for our team to physically check on the Groundwater Monitoring System,” said Dr. Barkwith.

 

While PhiGO will conclude after its three-year period, it is not the end of the research collaboration between the Ateneo de Manila University and the British Geological Society for future projects to be led by Dr. Guzman and Dr. Barkwith, such as hydrological assessments of tourist areas and hazard assessments of urban areas and megacities in the Philippines.

 

PhiGO is funded by the PH-UK Newton Agham Joint S&T Cooperation Program on Understanding the Impacts of Hydrometeorological Hazards in the Philippines, the Natural Environment Research Council, and the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development. 

 

For more information about the PhiGO website, please visit https://admuwater.com/phigo.

 

Photos courtesy of PhiGO website workshop and training gallery and the official Twitter account of PhiGO