Maynilad warns of service interruptions as sediments in water from Ipo rise

Maynilad Water Services Inc. yesterday warned of rotating, daily service interruptions as increased sediments in raw water at the Ipo Dam will force the company to scale down production of potable water.

Maynilad said in a statement the affected areas include some barangays in Bulacan, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Quezon City, Manila, Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Cavite.

The company said the specific areas that might be affected—as well as the duration of the service interruptions per area—would vary every day, depending on the level of turbidity in the raw water coming from Ipo Dam.

“There has been a significant increase in the turbidity [or concentration of sediment in] of the raw water coming from Ipo Dam due to strong rains brought on by the southwest monsoon or ‘habagat,” Maynilad said in a statement.

“This has constrained us to reduce the production of our La Mesa Treatment Plants,” the company said.

The La Mesa plants get raw water from the dams in Angat and Ipo, which are both in Bulacan. Maynilad said turbidity level increases due to soil erosion in the watersheds after heavy rains or due to the scraping of mineral deposits from the dams’ bottom during droughts.

“Reducing our production will enable us to remove increased sediments from the raw water during treatment before release of potable water to the distribution system,” Maynilad said.

“Because of this, some of our customers currently have low pressure to no water supply, and we are now deploying mobile water tankers to deliver potable water to these areas,” it added.

The company said its output of potable water “will be maintained at reduced levels” because rains over the Ipo watershed continue to stir up sediments in the raw water of Ipo Dam.

“We are constantly monitoring the water quality in Ipo Dam even as we conduct system adjustments to optimize the limited supply,” it added.