The Municipality of General MacArthur is one of the coastal municipalities in the southern portion of Eastern Samar province . It is approximately 70 km south of Borongan, the provincial capital. The water supply to the Poblacion and to its nearby Barangays of General MacArthur is supplied and managed of General MacArthur Water District.

A Sangguniang Bayan Resolution 5 Series of 1997 approved on January 8, 1995 creating General MacArthur Water Distrcit of General MacArthur, Eastern Samar based on the natioinal policy, P.D. 198 known as the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973 favoring the local operation and control of water system; authorizing the formation of local water district and providing for government and administration of such district; chartering a national administration to facilitate improvement of local water utilities; granting said administration such powers as are necessary to optimize public service from water utility operations, and for other purposes. On December 8, 1997 the Local Water Utilities Administration awarded Conditional Certificate of Conformance No. 568 to the General MacArthur Water District.

The existing water supply system of GMWD was constructed by the Bureau of Public Works (BPW) sometime in 1962. The source is the Macabot River dam located some 2 km west of the Poblacion Water from the intake structure flows by gravity into the distribution system through a piped water supply system. Sometime in 2011 the district through the initiative of the administration constructed the dugwell also located at Barangay Calutan. It serves as alternative source whenever scarcity of water arises. This would make two (2) water sources, namely: a) Macabut River Reinforced Concrete Dam, and b) Reinforced Concrete Dug Well located at Barangay Calutan, making total average of 35 psi of the two water sources.