Manila Water to implement new service interruption

June 21, 2019

Manila Water said it will implement a new water service interruption scheme once water allocation from Angat Dam is slashed to 36 cubic meters per second.


In a statement on Friday, Manila Water said their concession areas in the entire East Zone will experience an average of 12 to 17 hours of water service interruption.


The water concessionaire said this is due to the National Water Resources Board's (NWRB) decision to further reduce water allocation from the current 40 cubic meters per second to 36 cubic meters.


NWRB explained that the reduction was caused after the Angal Dam breached the low-level mark of 160 meters, even though the weather bureau has announced the onset of rainy season.


"The additional 4 CMS ( cubic meters per second) reduction translates to a deficiency of 350 million liters per day (million liters per day) equivalent to the consumption of almost 700,000 population per day," Manila Water said.


Manila Water added the new rotational scheme will affect "almost all" of their customers. However, they said the new scheme assures that limited water supply will be more equitably distributed.


"What we are aiming is for all our customers to have at least several hours in a day of water in their taps to allow them to store water in the comfort of their own," the concessionaire said.


"While we have posted the schedule of water service interruptions in our social media platforms, fine-tuning of operations may take around three days from reduction of supply to be able to capture the actual schedule of water availability in the households, as the limited water supply needs to be balanced across the entire East Zone," the statement added.


Manila Water said the service interruption is expected until the Angat Dam regains its sustainable safe water level. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS