Manila Bay cleanup to get boost from Maynilad project

Communities in northern Metro Manila can expect cleaner waterways soon as a P10.5-billion project of Maynilad Water Services Inc. is nearing completion and on track to go online in 2025.

Maynilad said in a statement on Tuesday its Camana (Calooocan-Malabon-Navotas) Water Reclamation Facility continued to make “significant progress” and is already 83 percent complete.

The Camana facility is designed to treat 205 million liters of wastewater daily. Once up and running, it could serve about 1.2 million customers, promising to help improve waterway health in the covered areas.

READ: Maynilad seeks foreign investors to join 2025 IPO

Maynilad said it has invested in an advanced technology that has the capacity to “effectively remove pollutants from wastewater before safely discharging it into the Maypajo Creek, which flows into Manila Bay.”

This feature is called Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE)-Conventional Activated Sludge technology.

To prepare its network and to complement the commercial operations of the Camana facility, Maynilad said 77 kilometers of sewer pipelines would be installed to collect wastewater from households and businesses in the three cities.

“This project is part of our commitment to investing in infrastructure that expands sewer coverage and creates cleaner and healthier communities,” said Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez.

The firm has 23 wastewater treatment facilities that are already operating and altogether account for an aggregate capacity of 684 million liters of wastewater per day.

Maynilad is the water and wastewater services provider for the West Zone concession with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, covering 17 cities and towns in Metro Manila and Cavite province.

Last June, Maynilad secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer up to P15 billion worth of “blue bonds” in order to raise new funds for sustainable water and wastewater management projects.

According to the Asian Development Bank, fresh capital raised through a blue bond offering is earmarked to support sustainable investments. INQ