Maynilad earmarks P1.14B for Muntinlupa facilities upgrade

MANILA -Concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. plans to spend P1.14 billion to upgrade its water treatment plants in Muntinlupa City in a bid to improve raw supply coming from Laguna Lake and sustain normal water production.

According to Maynilad, the amount will be used to upgrade the treatment processes of the Putatan Water Treatment Plants 1 and 2 “in response to the worsening quality of the raw water from Laguna Lake.”

Main upgrades would be done in phases, focusing on reinforcement of the facilities’ silt curtains, strengthening of the sludge management system, and replacement of filtration systems.

“We have had to incorporate additional treatment processes at Putatan to handle some quality parameters of Laguna Lake that now occur at levels not seen from recorded prior 10-year experience. This investment is essential so we can continue to maximize the lake’s strategic value as a water source for Metro Manila,” Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado said in a statement on Thursday.

The Putatan facilities have a capacity of 270 to 280 million liters of water per day (MLD), and are used to treat raw water coming from Laguna Lake, which provides supply to the south of Maynilad’s concession area.

READ: Maynilad’s P11-B new Muntinlupa treatment facility ready by Dec

Singapore-based water agency Public Utility Board previously assessed the facility and recommended the improvements, Maynilad said.

The facilities are among the largest water treatment plants in the country and these were also the first to tap Laguna Lake as an alternate source to Angat dam, the output of which is shared between Maynilad and east zone concessionaire Manila Water Co. Inc.

Maynilad has been upgrading the Putatan treatment plants since June this year, resulting in up to 13 hours of service interruptions within its concession area.

It had clarified, however, that there may be days when service interruptions would not be implemented as scheduled “if the plant can push production.”

Maynilad is currently banking on the completion of a 150-MLD treatment plant in Poblacion, Muntinlupa as another source of supply to ensure uninterrupted service even during maintenance activities.

The P14-billion Poblacion project is currently 80-percent complete and is expected to produce an initial 50 MLD by December.

Once at full capacity, it can produce up to 150 MLD for customers in the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa, as well as some areas in Cavite province, Maynilad said.