Maynilad to share resources with Manila Water to ease metro lack

March 12, 2019

Water concessionaire Maynilad said on Tuesday it will share 50 million liters daily with Manila Water next month to ease shortage in some places in  the metropolis.

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewarage System (MWSS) administrator Reynaldo Velasco earlier announced on Monday in an interview over dzMM that the two water providers discussed sharing water supply for some Metro Manila areas.

"We discussed with Maynilad that they can share 50 million liters per day with Manila Water. They will also have by the end of the month another 50 million liters per day from their Cardona Plant sourced from Laguna Lake," Velasco said. 

In a press briefing Tuesday, Maynilad Water supply operations head Ronald Padua said  the firm will provide 50 million liters per day to Manila Water consumers through cross-border flow. 

"The possibility of using cross border flow was mentioned in the concession agreement with MWSS. This is conducted when there is an emergency or crisis," Padua said.

"(Velasco) requested (Maynilad) if it can give water supply to Manila Water through cross border flow," he added. 

Padua explained this will come from their newly-constructed water treatment plant in Muntinlupa using raw water from Laguna Lake and it will be distributed to Manila Water by April. 

Maynilad will also lend some of their tanks to ration water in affected areas. 

"It is included in MWSS' request to us. For now, we can allocate five water tankers and these are properly coordinated with Manila Water and MWSS," Padua said. 

In a separate press briefing, Manila Water explained that unlike Maynilad which gets their water supply from Angat Dam, the latter's source is La Mesa Dam - whose level is below normal. 

"We get our water from La Mesa Dam but the dam's water level is currently very low so we are having problems with our water supply distribution," Manila Water chief operating officer Geodino Carpio said. 

Manila Water's customers have been experiencing low pressure to no water since they first released an announcement last week.

Carpio said there might have been a misinterpretation on the part of their consumers, which eventually led to unusually high demand when they released an advisory. 

"What happened was the announcement was too effective that it became widespread. People reacted by saving water, so we expected a bit of jump in demand of water. But we did not expect that people outside the affected areas also saved water," Carpio explained. 

"The demand was so high that water in our reservoirs decreased so much," he added. 

Manila Water said around 52,000 households are affected in the shortage of water supply. Carpio said they are trying to control water pressure in affected areas and are drilling deep wells. 

"We are hoping that by April we will have deep wells which will provide 30 million liters per day and by July, hopefully 80 million liters," he said. 

Maynilad assures their customers the cross border flow will not affect their water supply or result in an increase in their bills. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS