Water service interruption worsens

Water users are in for a greater ordeal starting today as Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. begin longer hours of service interruption as regulators are expected to further reduce supply coming from Angat Dam, where the level is expected to breach the critical low level on Saturday.

Monitoring by the weather bureau showed that as of Friday morning, water level at Angat was pegged at 160.28 meters above sea level (masl). With the stock receding at about 0.4 meter daily, the level is expected to be lower than the critical mark of 160 masl by Saturday.

“Manila Water is set to implement a new scheme of rotational water service interruptions for the entire East Zone for an average of 12 to 17 hours due to the National Water Resources Board’s (NWRB’s) further reduction of allocation to the concessionaires,” the Ayala group subsidiary said in a statement.

Last June 1, NWRB reduced the allocation to Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System—of raw water that Manila Water and Maynilad treat to produce potable water—from the normal 48 cubic meters  per second (cms)  to 46 cms on account of the continuing decrease of the level in Angat.

NWRB further reduced the allocation to 40 cms starting June 20 as Angat prepared to reactivate its Low Level Outlet, which is used for drawdown of raw water when the level is 160 masl or lower.

Starting June 22, when water at Angat is expected to be lower than the critical level, the allocation is to be tightened some more at 36 cms.

“We are therefore constrained to implement this new rotational scheme,” Manila Water said. “The additional 4 cms reduction translates to a deficiency of 350 million liters per day equivalent to the consumption of almost 700,000 population per day.”

Manila Water said it needed to interrupt service “to almost all of our customers” to distribute “more equitably” the limited supply.

“What we are aiming is for all our customers to have at least several hours in a day of water in their taps to allow them to store water in the comfort of their own homes,” the company said. “This rotational water service interruption may be implemented until a sustainable safe water level in the Angat Dam is achieved.”

Based on Manila Water’s latest schedule of service interruptions, for example, Addition Hills and Barangka in Mandaluyong will experience low pressure or no water for 18 hours, longer than the 15 hours implemented previously.

Also, service in some barangays of Manila will be disrupted for 13 hours from 10 hours earlier this week. The same goes for parts of Ugong (Valle Verde 1-4) in Pasig, with 18 hours of service interruption from 15 hours previously.

In a separate statement, Maynilad said it was forced yet again to interrupt services throughout its concession area to maximize the limited supply and ensure that all customers will have some water supply daily.

In the West Zone, for example, some barangays in Pasay will have low pressure or no water for 18 hours from 13 hours earlier this week. Also, some barangays in Parañaque will suffer for 19 hours from 16 hours previously.

Following complaints from consumers that the schedules are not reliable, the MWSS Regulatory Office has warned Manila Water as well as Maynilad about possible fines because of their “failure to observe” the respective schedule they announced.

“While we have posted the schedule of water service interruptions in our social media platforms, fine-tuning of operations may take around three days from reduction of supply to be able to capture the actual schedule of water availability in the households, as the limited water supply needs to be balanced across the entire East Zone,” Manila Water said.