Manila Water restores 24-hour service

There is now 24-hour water supply across eastern Metro Manila and Rizal, with at least 7 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure at ground-floor level, according to Manila Water Co. Inc.

The Ayala group subsidiary said it had been able to restore round-the-clock service—as it had committed to based on its concession agreement with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)—even if the allocation for MWSS of raw water from Angat Dam was still below normal.

The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is keeping MWSS’ allocation at 40 cubic meters per second—the normal allocation being 46 cubic meters per second—even if water level at Angat has improved to above 190 meters above sea level.

“We are now at 17 days running of 24-hour water availability to 100 percent of our customers,” Manila Water chief operating officer Abelardo P. Basilio said in a statement.

“But while we have increased our efficiencies, and the technical solutions we have put in place are ensuring we are able to distribute the still-limited supply as equitably as we can, we cannot rest and let our guard down,” Basilio added.

He said the water supply situation “remains volatile” as Angat Dam continued to struggle to reach the ideal 210- to 212-meter level by end of 2019.

“We encourage our customers to continue using water wisely and responsibly, to help ensure ample supply moving forward to the peak demand months of 2020,” he said.

When the water supply crisis started at the Manila Water concession area in March, the company said it had a deficit of 150 million liters per day (MLD). This worsened to about 350 MLD in June when the NWRB cut MWSS’ allocation to 36 cubic meters per second because water at Angat fell below the critical level of 160 masl.

Manila Water said that, since then, it had narrowed the supply gap with increased production in its Cardona Water Treatment Plant in Rizal, the rehabilitation of existing deepwells and construction of new wells across the East Zone, and the efficient reduction of its system loss or nonrevenue water — water that is produced but unbilled because it was lost through pipe leaks or illegal connections.

The Cardona plant, which can produce 100 MLD of potable water, is now operating at around 80 MLD “consistent with the current demand” of towns in Rizal, including Cardona, Binangonan, Angono, Taytay and parts of Cainta.

Total yield from various deep wells is pegged at more than 40 MLD while systems loss was reduced to about 10 percent of production from 12 percent.