Maynilad to put up P110M water reservoirs

MANILA, Philippines—Maynilad Water Services Inc. has earmarked P110 million for the construction of three modular water reservoirs in Quezon City to further ensure supply in its concession area.

Once completed, the reservoirs will have a combined holding capacity of 10 million liters, which will benefit nearly 12,000 households in Maynilad’s west zone, the company said in a statement.

“We want to improve water supply reliability in Quirino and Roosevelt at the soonest possible time, so we are adopting modular designs in building these reservoirs,” said Maynilad president and CEO Ricky Vargas.

Vargas explained that due to high elevation, some areas in Quirino and Roosevelt in Quezon City would be affected by water supply reductions from Angat Dam. With the modular water reservoirs in place, Maynilad can store more water during off-peak periods for distribution to customers, particularly in these areas, whenever demand for water increases during so-called peak periods.

Earlier, Maynilad announced that it would put up two more water-treatment facilities in the west zone concession area, to complement its Putatan water plant in Muntinlupa.

“We’re very serious about finding alternative sources for bulkwater…. We want to expand [the capacity of the Putatan facility from 100 million liters a day] to 300 mld,” said Maynilad chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said Maynilad was looking for another site in the southern and northern portion of the company’s concession area, where it could put up two similar 300-mld water-treatment facilities.

Maynilad, he added, could even further scale up the capacities of these facilities, if it could find adequate sources.

“We’d like to find sources in the north and south to augment the Angat Dam [supply]. So in a way, we’re slowly helping in the aspect of supply security with respect to bulkwater supply,” Pangilinan said.

Angat Dam currently provides over 90 percent of Metro Manila’s water requirements. Experts believe that if no new water source were to be found, Metro Manila’s estimated 12 million residents could suffer from a water shortfall of 1,600 mld by 2015.

Pangilinan also said Maynilad was prepared to spend P2.5 billion to expand the capability of its Putatan water treatment plant to 300 mld, should the need arise.—Amy R. Remo