West Zone water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is investing P17.2 billion this year in its water and wastewater projects, almost double the capital expenditure in 2012.
“The previous years have been about water service transformation. Now that we have improved and expanded our water services in the West Zone, our next challenge is to accelerate our sewerage and septage coverage,” Maynilad president and CEO Ricky P. Vargas said in a statement.
Maynilad’s infrastructure budget will come from internally generated funds and a loan from the World Bank.
About P9.303 billion of the budget will be used for the construction of wastewater facilities in several areas in the West Zone. These include sewage treatment plants and conveyance systems in Valenzuela, Pasay and Muntinlupa.
Some P3.762 billion will be spent for pipelines, pumping stations and reservoirs that will be used for the provision of potable water supply in unserved portions of North Caloocan, Valenzuela, Novaliches, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Imus, Kawit, Bacoor and Cavite City.
About P2 billion was earmarked for Maynilad’s Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction program. This covers meter and pressure management, active leakage control, primary line assessment, selective pipe replacement and district metered area management.
Key company facilities such as pumping stations and reservoirs will be upgraded with a budget of P384 million, while P960 million will be used for water-source development.
The rest of the 2013 infrastructure budget will be used for other initiatives such as the building of facilities for operations support programs.—Niña Calleja